"Immune function and pneumococcal disease in young infants in Papua New Guinea"

Streptococcus pneumoniae remains an important cause of serious morbidity and mortality in young infants in Papua New Guinea. This paper presents the results of a neonatal safety and immunogenicity pneumococcal conjugate vaccination trial in the ‘land of the unexpected' and discusses differences in neonatal immune function between children born against a high versus low background of microbial exposure that may influence vaccine competence and kinetics of postnatal immune development.