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Controversy continues about the effectiveness of the pneumococcal vaccine in preventing disease in HIV-positive patients, especially in light of negative data recently presented from a placebo-controlled trial conducted in Uganda (see, for instance, Research Notes, September 2000 ACC). These researchers conducted a case-control study to evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing invasive pneumococcal disease among adults in the U.S.
Case patients were identified from 4 hospitals in Atlanta and 6 in San Francisco between February 1992 and April 1995. A case of invasive disease was defined as the isolation of S. pneumoniae from a normally sterile site, such as blood, cerebrospinal fluid, or pleural fluid. To be included, a patient…