B.C. babies will receive one less needle under the province's infant inoculation program starting next month.

Provincial medical health officer Dr. Perry Kendall said recent research in the U.S. shows the pneumococcal treatment was just as effective with three shots as it was with the current four.

Dr. Perry Kendall says three meningococcal shots provide as much protection for toddlers as four.
(CBC file)

Since that discovery, Quebec has scaled back, as has Italy, said Kendall.

"We're not alone in doing this in British Columbia. We just looked at the evidence, and one shot less is good. It provides just as much protection."

The move will also save the province about $2.5 million.

The pneumococcal inoculation is aimed at preventing certain strains of meningitis and pneumonia, and Kendall said it has been effective.

"We were recording in 2002 about 140 reported cases for every thousand children, and we're now down to about 10."

Kendall said that with such positive results, he wishes more parents would inoculate their children.

About 75 per cent of B.C. parents seek to have their infants inoculated. Kendall would like to see that rise to 95 per cent.

For other childhood diseases, the number of infant booster shots will remain at four.