Prophylaxis with daily oral penicillin reduces the rate of pneumococcal infection and the mortality rate (1)
Prophylaxis should commence by the age of 3 months (when the level of fetal haemoglobin starts to reduce & the risk of splenic hypofunction increases) and should be continued throughout childhood (2).
Recommended doses of oral penicillin are (erythromycin may be used in patients with penicillin allergy):
Pneumococcal vaccination should be given as soon as possible after diagnosis (1)
All the other vaccines in the routine infant immunisation programme should be given:
Reference:
Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.