The intervention study in the Cuban province of Cienfuegos with the Quimi-Vio anti-pneumococcal vaccine began this Tuesday in children between one and five years of age, developed by the Finlay Institute.
This immunogen produced in Cuba by the institute, protects children from diseases such as meningitis, pneumonia and acute otitis media caused by pneumococcus.
The cycle includes the administration of two doses for infants 12 to 23 months of age, with an intervening period of eight weeks; while children up to five years will receive a single injection.
Vicente Vérez Bencomo, Director of the Finlay Vaccine Institute, pointed out that this center has been collaborating with the Cienfuegos health institutions for several years.
This process will continue until next November in the 20 polyclinics in the central-southern territory and in other clinical sites, for example, in daycare centers in the eight municipalities.
An intervention study is a type of eventual clinical trial, which monitors participants in the future, and normally focuses on groups of people at high risk.
María Eugenia Toledo, Principal Investigator of the Clinical Study of the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine, stated that from 2017 to 2018 Cienfuegos immunized more than 91 percent of the pediatric population between one and five years of age with Quimi-Vio in a similar campaign, so there is extensive experience in the health personnel involved. Toledo highlighted the experience of applying this vaccine also in Children’s Daycares.
The Finlay Vaccine Institute is part of the Cuban Biotechnological and Pharmaceutical Industries Group (Biocubafarma). Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, its scientists and other Cuban organizations undertook the developing of specific vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease.
For its part, the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine is an institution of international scope, where fast, specialized and high-tech services are promoted in diagnosis, medical care, teaching and research development; aimed at the prevention, control and elimination of communicable diseases.
