GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) released the results of a clinical study on Korea-Acute Otitis Media (K-AOM) on Tuesday, showing that its Synflorix, a pneumococcal vaccine, can effectively prevent AOM among Korean infants.

Synflorix, used exclusively for babies, has won nods in more than 125 countries and been chosen as an essential immunization program in over 50 countries and regions.

GSK’s pediatric pneumococcal vaccine, Synflorix

GSK conducted a study on the frequency of AOM and the nasopharyngeal retention rate among infants under 24 months old who visited eight general hospitals in the nation. Out of the total 305 infants and toddlers enrolled for the study, 123 took Synflorix, while the other 182 received a 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine (PCV13). The researchers had babies visit hospitals four times, starting from two months before their first vaccination, and collected their nasopharyngeal aspirate. They told parents to visit the hospital if the infants developed AOM.

The results showed that the incidence of AOM dropped after vaccination against pneumococcus in infants younger than 24 months in Korea. The incidence rate was about 53.1 percent lower in the Synflorix group than in the PCV13 group.

Graphics show the incidence rates of acute otitis media according to the times of visits (left), and the recurrence rates of AOM in Synflorix and 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine groups.

The incidence rate in the PCV13 group was 20.9 percent from the first inoculation to the time before vaccination, and 11 percent after taking an additional vaccine. Among the PCV13 group, 11 percent of the infants developed AOM more than twice.

In the Synflorix group, the incidence rate was 9.8 percent from the first injection to the time before additional vaccination and 7.3 percent after the followed inoculation. In the study, 2.4 percent of infants administered with Synflorix developed AOM more than twice.

The common types of pneumococcal serum found in the study were those not included in vaccines such as 10A, 15A, and 15B.

“The study is also in line with a recent study conducted in Sweden, which reported that outpatient visits due to AOM in areas that use Synflorix were about 25 percent lower than those using PCV13,” said Bruce Mungall, the head of the vaccine science department at GSK.

The K-AOM study was published online on the medical journal, Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, on April 24.

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