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PubMed1995

Influenza and pneumococcal vaccination coverage levels among persons aged > or = 65 years--United States, 1973-1993.

Recommendations to provide annual influenza vaccination and one dose of pneumococcal vaccine to all persons aged > or = 65 years (1,2) are intended to reduce the high morbidity and mortality associated with influenza and pneumococcal disease. One of the national health objectives for the year 2000 is to increase influenza and pneumococcal vaccination levels to > or = 60% for persons at high risk for influenza and pneumococcal disease, including those aged > or = 65 years (objective 20.11) (3). This report summarizes 1) estimates of influenza vaccination coverage levels among persons aged > or = 65 years during 1973-1985 and pneumococcal vaccination coverage levels for 1984-1985 based on data from the United States Immunization Survey (USIS) and 2) influenza and pneumococcal vaccination coverage levels among persons aged > or = 65 years and for selected population subgroups during 1989-1993 based on data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Targeting pneumococcal vaccination to high-risk groups: a feasibility study in one general practice.

The Department of Health recommends pneumococcal vaccination opportunistically or when immunising against influenza. This was a study in one general practice to assess the feasibility of targeting patients for pneumococcal vaccination in primary care. We also examined the rate of uptake of pneumococcal vaccine in identified risk groups after one year of a pneumococcal vaccination programme. A self-administered questionnaire was given to patients attending for influenza vaccine between September and December 1996. A total of 551/747 (73.8%) patients returned completed questionnaires. Few patients receiving influenza vaccination (133/509, 26%) were aware of pneumococcal vaccine. Only 55/108 (51%) of those given influenza vaccination were in a clinical risk group for pneumococcal vaccine. Attitudes towards vaccination were more positive and intention to take up pneumococcal vaccination significantly greater in high-risk patients compared to those who were not in a risk group. A targeted vaccination campaign directed at high-risk patients, both opportunistically and those attending for influenza vaccination over one year, resulted in the following proportions of patients in at-risk groups being vaccinated: coronary disease 144/312 (46%), diabetes 79/132 (60%), splenectomy 2/2 (100%), chronic obstructive airways disease and asthma 135/700 (19%), and chronic renal failure 5/9 (56%). Most doses of pneumococcal vaccine (336/463; 73%) were delivered to patients in high-risk groups. We conclude that a well-organised pneumococcal vaccination campaign can improve coverage of at-risk patients in general practice. Programmes to increase patient awareness of the vaccine, improved availability of vaccine, and practice guidelines, would help to target the vaccine to at-risk patients. Patients with chronic lung disease and asthma were particularly difficult to define and target in this study. A review of the UK guidelines, aligning those for pneumococcal and influenza vaccination and including patients over 65 years, would improve the logistics of vaccine delivery.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Response to pneumococcal vaccine in renal allograft recipients.

Pneumococcal vaccine, 14-valent, was administered to 75 stable adult renal transplant patients on maintenance immunosuppression. 32 had undergone splenectomy prior to transplantation and 43 had not. Functional opsonizing antibody was measured by chemiluminescence methodology for types 12F and 14, contained in the vaccine, and for type 5, a control strain. Serum was examined prior to and at 1 and 6 months after vaccine injection. 33, 71, and 35% of transplant patients had preexisting antibody to types 5, 12F, and 14, respectively, as compared to 58, 87, and 68% of controls. No differences were observed in nonsplenectomized versus splenectomized patients. Following immunization, 59 and 76% of antibody-negative patients converted to positive for pneumococcus type 12F and 14. These included 70 and 70% for nonsplenectomized patients as compared to 50 and 84% for those splenectomized. Vaccination did not result in the production of opsonizing antibody for the related type 5 pneumococcus. Pneumococcal vaccine generates functional antibody and is safe in renal transplant patients.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Efficacy of pneumococcal vaccination in adults. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Because of the prevalence of pneumococcal pneumonia, the substantial morbidity and mortality associated with many pneumococcal infections, and an increase in the incidence of antibiotic resistance among pneumococcal isolates, considerable efforts for disease prevention have been made using a polyvalent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine. Despite numerous clinical trials of the vaccine, its efficacy in the prevention of pneumococcal infections and other clinically relevant medical outcomes in adults remains uncertain. METHODS: To assess quantitatively the efficacy of pneumococcal vaccination, a MEDLINE literature search, manual reviews of article bibliographies, and communications with pneumococcal vaccine investigators were used to identify randomized controlled trials of the pneumococcal vaccine. Independent review of 594 articles revealed nine randomized trials with 12 vaccine and control study groups that evaluated clinically relevant outcomes in adults. To estimate a summary effect size for all outcomes, Mantel-Haenszel odds ratios (ORs) and Dersimonian and Laird rate differences (RDs) and their associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed. RESULTS: Summary ORs demonstrated a statistically significant protective effect of the vaccine for four pneumococcal infection-related outcomes: definitive pneumococcal pneumonia (OR = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.24 to 0.48), definitive pneumococcal pneumonia for vaccine-containing pneumococcal antigen types only (vaccine types only) (OR = 0.17; 95% CI = 0.09 to 0.33), presumptive pneumococcal pneumonia (OR = 0.47; 95% CI = 0.35 to 0.63), and presumptive pneumococcal pneumonia (vaccine types only) (OR = 0.39; 95% CI = 0.26 to 0.59). The summary RDs, which account for heterogeneity among studies, confirmed a statistically significant protective effect for two of these same outcomes: definitive pneumococcal pneumonia (RD = 4/1000; 95% CI = 0/1000 to 7/1000) and definitive pneumococcal pneumonia (vaccine types only) (RD = 8/1000; 95% CI = 1/1000 to 16/1000). Summary ORs and RDs failed to demonstrate a protective effect for pneumonia (all causes), bronchitis, and mortality (all causes) or mortality due to pneumonia or pneumococcal infection. Subgroup analyses showed that for all four pneumococcal infection-related outcomes, vaccine efficacy differed for high- and low-risk subjects, demonstrating efficacy for low-risk subjects and lack of efficacy for high-risk subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Pneumococcal vaccination appears efficacious in reducing bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia in low-risk adults. However, evidence from randomized controlled trials fails to demonstrate vaccine efficacy for pneumococcal infection-related or other medical outcomes in the heterogeneous group of subjects currently labeled as high risk.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Pneumococcal vaccines. WHO position paper.

Pneumococcal diseases are a major public health problem all over the world. The etiological agent, Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is surrounded by a polysaccharide capsule. Differences in the composition of this capsule permit the serological differentiation between about 90 capsular types, some of which are frequently associated with pneumococcal disease, others rarely. Invasive pneumococcal infections include pneumonia, meningitis and febrile bacteremia; among the common noninvasive manifestations are otitis media, sinusitis and bronchitis. At least 1 million children die of pneumococcal disease every year, most of these being young children in developing countries. In the developed world, elderly persons carry the major disease burden. Conditions associated with increased risk of serious pneumococcal disease include HIV infection, sickle-cell anaemia and a variety of chronic organ failures. Vaccination is the only available tool to prevent pneumococcal disease. The recent development of widespread microbial resistance to essential antibiotics underlines the urgent need for more efficient pneumococcal vaccines. Immunity following pneumococcal disease is directed primarily against the capsular serotype involved. The currently licensed pneumococcal vaccine is based on the 23 most common serotypes, against which the vaccine has an overall protective efficacy of about 60%-70%. Children aged < 2 years, and persons suffering from various states of immunodeficiency, for example HIV infection, do not consistently develop immunity following vaccination, thus reducing the protective value of the vaccine in some major target groups for pneumococcal disease. However, in the healthy elderly population the polysaccharide vaccine provides relatively efficient protection against invasive pneumococcal disease. Extensive clinical trials are now under way with a new generation of pneumococcal vaccines. These protein-polysaccharide combinations, known as conjugate vaccines, contain 7-11 selected polysaccharides bound to a protein carrier, and induce a T-cell dependent immune response. These vaccines are likely to be protective even in children aged < 2 years, and may reduce pneumococcal transmission through a herd effect.

Bacterial Vaccines↗
PubMed2005

[Pneumococcal vaccination; arguments for informing parents about the options available].

Invasive pneumococcal disease in childhood causes meningitis, sepsis and pneumonia. Current pneumococcal vaccines are estimated to prevent 50% of Dutch pneumococcal meningitis and 40% of pneumococcal sepsis. In 2001, the Health Council of The Netherlands emphasised the importance of universal pneumococcal vaccination of small children. However, the Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sports stated that the vaccine is too expensive for the national vaccination programme (NVP). Child health clinics do not educate parents about vaccines that are not available in the NVP, and therefore parents are not informed about the availability of an effective pneumococcal vaccine. We argue that child health clinic physicians should inform parents about the limitations of the NVP in order to put expectations about the programme into perspective. Educating parents that the NVP is very worthwhile but does not include every possible or available vaccine will strengthen confidence in the NVP. Parents who then want to know which effective vaccines are available should be provided with the information they request. In view of the Health Council recommendations, the pneumococcal vaccine should then be specifically mentioned.

Child↗
PubMed2005

Administration of protein-conjugate pneumococcal vaccine to patients who have invasive disease after splenectomy despite their having received 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine.

Patients who undergo splenectomy are at greatly increased risk for overwhelming pneumococcal bacteremia and death. Twenty-three-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV-23), which contains capsular polysaccharides (PSs) from 23 common serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae, is strongly recommended for such patients. The capacity to respond to PPV-23 by producing immunoglobulin (Ig) G is genetically regulated. Some proportion of adults do not respond and, despite postsplenectomy administration of PPV-23, may remain susceptible to recurrent pneumococcal sepsis. Here, we describe 2 patients who had recurring pneumococcal bacteremia after undergoing splenectomy despite having received numerous doses of PPV-23. Heptavalent protein-conjugate pneumococcal vaccine (PCPV-7) was then administered, and it induced high levels of IgG to all 7 PSs; in one of the patients, functional activity against 5 of the 7 PSs was demonstrable, both in vitro and in vivo. Recurrent pneumococcal bacteremia in patients who have undergone splenectomy may indicate a genetically regulated failure to respond to PPV-23; PCPV-7 may stimulate production of IgG to PSs in such patients.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Generalist and subspecialist physicians' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations for elderly and other high-risk patients: a nationwide survey.

BACKGROUND: Influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates remain too low. This survey assessed generalist and subspecialist physicians' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations for high-risk patients. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to 6000 physicians randomly selected from a national database. RESULTS: After 3 mailings, 1874 physicians (32%) of the 5858 eligible responded. Although most physicians thought that it was very important for their high-risk patients be current on influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations, only 86% and 75% of generalists and subspecialists, respectively, very strongly recommended influenza vaccinations to their elderly patients and only 81% and 64%, respectively, very strongly recommended pneumococcal vaccinations to their elderly patients (P<.001 for both). After multivariate logistic regression, factors significantly associated with strongly recommending vaccinations to elderly patients in the influenza and pneumococcal vaccination models included female sex of provider, the provider having received an influenza vaccination, the provider's beliefs about vaccine effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, a patient's risk for illness, and ease of targeting patients. In addition, generalists were more likely than subspecialists to strongly recommend pneumococcal vaccinations to their patients. Patient reminders, special clinics, and standing orders were each used by fewer than 30% of respondents, although generalists were more likely than subspecialists to use such strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Nontrivial proportions of generalist and subspecialist physicians fail to strongly recommend influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations to their elderly and high-risk patients. Other effective strategies for promoting vaccine delivery are also used relatively infrequently. These findings suggest areas for improvement if vaccination rates are to reach national goals.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Effect of prior pneumococcal vaccination on clinical outcome of hospitalized adults with community-acquired pneumococcal pneumonia.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of prior pneumococcal vaccination on the clinical outcome of 554 consecutive hospitalized adults with community-acquired pneumococcal pneumonia from 1995 to 2004, 61 of whom had been vaccinated in the 5 years before admission. Outcome variables that were compared in vaccinated and unvaccinated adults included the occurrence of bacteremia, the time to resolution of pneumonia symptoms, the length of hospital stay, and mortality. Prior pneumococcal vaccination was associated with a lower risk of bacteremia (odds ratio 0.46, 95% CI 0.22-0.98). Compared with unvaccinated patients, vaccine recipients had better clinical outcomes, which included a faster resolution of pneumonia symptoms. The median length of hospital stay was shorter in vaccinated patients (8.0 vs. 9.0 days; p=0.032). Overall case-fatality rates did not differ significantly between groups (1.6% vs. 6.2%; p=0.233). In conclusion, prior pneumococcal vaccination appears to be associated with a lower risk of bacteremia, a faster time to resolution of symptoms, and a shorter hospital stay in adults with pneumococcal pneumonia. The findings presented here provide additional support to the current vaccine recommendations and should encourage healthcare providers to increase pneumococcal vaccine coverage among targeted adult populations.

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PubMed2002

Influenza and pneumococcal vaccine distribution and use in primary care and hospital settings in Scotland: coverage, practice and policies.

A survey of the coverage, distribution and the factors associated with use of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines among general practitioners (GPs) in primary care and in hospital settings was carried out in 53 general practices in Scotland taking part in the 'Continuous Morbidity Recording' (CMR) programme. The annual vaccine distribution increased substantially among 53 general practices from 1993 to 1999 and in Scotland as a whole from 1984 to 1999. From the questionnaire, overall coverage was 43% (95% CI 38-48) for influenza vaccine in the 2000-1 season and 13% (95% CI 9-16) for pneumococcal vaccine in the last 5 year period, in high-risk patients recommended for these vaccines by the Department of Health (DoH). Influenza vaccine coverage was highest in the elderly (65 years of age and above) at 62% (95% CI 59-74). Although pneumococcal vaccination is not currently recommended for all elderly, coverage of this vaccine was also higher in this group (22%, 95% CI 16-29). In the majority of patients (influenza vaccine, 98% and pneumococcal vaccine, 94%), vaccination was carried out in general practice. Only 2% of patients had received pneumococcal vaccination in a hospital setting. The level of influenza and pneumococcal vaccination varied with the level of deprivation. Most GPs considered that the responsibility for influenza and pneumococcal vaccination lay with them. Forty-five percent of GPs reported having a written policy with set target for influenza vaccination and 11% for pneumococcal vaccination.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Validation of self-report of influenza and pneumococcal vaccination status in elderly outpatients.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the validity of self-reported influenza and pneumococcal vaccination status. DESIGN: Cross-sectional surveys of outpatients aged 65 years or older. SETTING: A Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VA) and a community managed care organization (MCO). Both organizations have organized influenza and pneumococcal vaccination programs. SUBJECTS: VA subjects included all elderly respondents to a mailed survey of 500 randomly selected outpatients. MCO subjects included all respondents to a telephone survey of 300 randomly selected elderly members of the MCO. MEASUREMENTS: The VA survey was conducted following the 1995-1996 influenza season while the MCO survey was conducted following the 1994-1995 season. Self-report from the mailed survey for VA subjects and from the telephone survey for MCO subjects was compared to medical record documentation (paper and computerized combined). RESULTS: The response rate was 77% (n = 369) for the VA subjects of whom 195 (53%) were aged 65 or older. The response rate for the MCO subjects was 84% (n = 237). Self-report of influenza vaccination had a sensitivity (SENS) of 1.0 and a specificity (SPEC) of .79 with a kappa of .72 (95% CI .58-.86) among VA patients. Among MCO patients, self-report of influenza vaccination had a SENS of .98 and a SPEC of .71 with kappa of .75 (95% CI .69-.89). Self-report of pneumococcal vaccination status among VA patients had a SENS of .97 and a SPEC of .53 with a kappa of .42 (95% CI .32-.52). Among MCO patients, self-report of pneumococcal vaccination had a SENS of .90 and a SPEC of .64 with a kappa of .54 (95% CI .40-.68). A secondary analysis excluding subjects living outside of the VA's catchment area improved the specificity and indices of concordance of self-report of both influenza and pneumococcal vaccination. A secondary analysis of MCO data which excluded subjects who received a pneumococcal vaccination > 2 years prior to the study also improved concordance and the negative predictive value of self-report. CONCLUSIONS: Self-report of influenza vaccination is a highly sensitive and moderately specific measure. Self-report of pneumococcal vaccination is also a highly sensitive but less specific measure of vaccination status. Lower rates of validity for pneumococcal vaccination may reflect both less accurate recall, particularly for more distant vaccination, and less complete documentation in medical records.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Clinical effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccine. Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccine. DATA SOURCES: Computerized searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and SCISEARCH databases were performed, reference lists of retrieved articles were reviewed, and first authors of published studies were contacted. STUDY SELECTION: Studies of use of pneumococcal vaccines in adults were included if the study design was a randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trial and at least one of the following clinical outcomes was reported: vaccine-type systemic pneumococcal infection, systemic pneumococcal infection, vaccine-type pneumococcal pneumonia, pneumococcal pneumonia, non-vaccine-type pneumococcal pneumonia. SYNTHESIS: Study quality was assessed and descriptive information concerning the study populations, interventions, and outcome measurements was extracted for 13 trials involving more than 65,000 patients. Estimates of vaccine efficacy, based on a meta-analysis of randomized and quasi-randomized trials, were determined for clinical outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Vaccination with pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine can be expected to reduce the risk of systemic infection due to pneumococcal types included in the vaccine by 83% and systemic infection due to all pneumococci by 73%. We found no evidence that the vaccine was less efficacious for the elderly, institutionalized people, or those with chronic disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Antibody to capsular polysaccharides of Streptococcus pneumoniae after vaccination of human immunodeficiency virus-infected subjects with 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that, because of a greatly increased susceptibility to pneumococcal infection, all persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) receive pneumococcal vaccine. Using an ELISA specific for antibody to capsular polysaccharide, a postvaccination antibody was evaluated to five commonly infecting serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Thirty-nine HIV-infected persons with less than or equal to 500 CD4 cells exhibited significantly fewer responses than did healthy controls; overall, only 46 (24%) of 195 possible responses were positive compared with 45 (75%) of 60 in 12 HIV-infected subjects with greater than 500 CD4 cells and 92 (74%) of 125 in 25 healthy controls (P less than .001). Subjects with less than or equal to 500 CD4 cells responded to a mean of 1.1 antigens versus a mean of 3.8 and 3.7 in those with greater than 500 CD4 cells and controls, respectively (P less than .001). There were no differences between responses in those with less than 200 and those with 200-500 CD4 cells. Within groups stratified by CD4 cell counts, further stratification by clinical status did not reveal significant differences. Since asymptomatic HIV-infected persons with less than 500 CD4 cells show abnormal responses, pneumococcal vaccine should be given when HIV infection is first detected.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

[Pneumococcal vaccination in France among adults].

Pneumococcal vaccination has for long be controversial but has today a proven efficacy and efficiency in preventing pneumococcal pneumonia, especially their most serious expressions leading to hospitalisation or death. France has an exceptional situation, as it is one of the developed country with the lowest rate of vaccination. This is the result of restrictive, maladjusted and discrepant recommendations of different commissions and committees. The gap is even more glaring with the flue vaccination program which has nearly the same medical indications. France was the first country in the world to set up a flue vaccination program for the elderly and some chronic conditions, and this program is an obvious success. For the twentieth anniversary of this program, his author propose to extend it to pneumococcal vaccination for a better prevention of what is the first cause of death from infectious disease in France with 6000 to 13000 deaths per year.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Inpatient computer-based standing orders vs physician reminders to increase influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates: a randomized trial.

CONTEXT: Computerized reminder systems increase influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates, but computerized standing order systems have not been previously described or evaluated. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of computerized physician standing orders compared with physician reminders on inpatient vaccination rates. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: Randomized trial of 3777 general medicine patients discharged from 1 of 6 study wards during a 14-month period (November 1, 1998, through December 31, 1999) composed of 2 overlapping influenza seasons at an urban public teaching hospital. INTERVENTIONS: The hospital's computerized physician order entry system identified inpatients eligible for influenza and pneumococcal vaccination. For patients with standing orders, the system automatically produced vaccine orders directed to nurses at the time of patient discharge. For patients with reminders, the computer system provided reminders to physicians that included vaccine orders during routine order entry sessions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Vaccine administration. RESULTS: During the approximately 6 months of the influenza season, 50% of all hospitalized patients were identified as eligible for influenza vaccination. Twenty-two percent of patients hospitalized during the entire 14 months of the study were found eligible for pneumococcal vaccination. Patients with standing orders received an influenza vaccine significantly more often (42%) than those patients with reminders (30%) (P <.001). Patients with standing orders received a pneumococcal vaccine significantly more often (51%) than those with reminders (31%) (P <.001). CONCLUSIONS: Computerized standing orders were more effective than computerized reminders for increasing both influenza and pneumococcal vaccine administration. Our findings suggest that computerized standing orders should be used more widely for this purpose.

Clinical Protocols↗
PubMed2006

Influenza and pneumococcal vaccination coverage among persons aged > or = 65 years--United States, 2004-2005.

Vaccination of persons at increased risk for complications from influenza and pneumococcal disease is a key public health strategy in the United States. During the 1990-1999 influenza seasons, approximately 36,000 deaths were attributed annually to influenza infection, with approximately 90% of deaths occurring among adults aged > or = 65 years. In 1998, an estimated 3,400 adults aged > or = 65 years died as a result of invasive pneumococcal disease. One of the Healthy People 2010 objectives is to achieve 90% coverage of noninstitutionalized adults aged > or = 65 years for both influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations (objective 14-29). To assess progress toward this goal, this report examines vaccination coverage for persons interviewed in the 2004 and 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys. The 2004-05 influenza season was characterized by an influenza vaccine shortage. As a result, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) issued recommendations that influenza vaccine be reserved for persons in priority groups, including persons aged > or = 65 years, and that others should defer vaccination until supply was sufficient. The results of this assessment indicated that, overall, influenza vaccination coverage was lower in the 2005 survey year than in 2004, whereas pneumococcal vaccination coverage was nearly unchanged from 2004 to 2005. In both years, influenza and pneumococcal vaccination coverage varied from state to state. Continued measures are needed to increase the proportion of older adults who receive influenza and pneumococcal vaccines; health-care providers should offer pneumococcal vaccine all year and should continue to offer influenza vaccine during December and throughout the influenza season, even after influenza activity has been documented in the community.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Cross-reacting opsonic antibodies to clinically important pneumococcal serotypes after pneumococcal vaccination.

Opsonic activity of serum to pneumococcal serotypes 6 B, 9 V and 19 A was measured in 16 patients before and after immunization with a pneumococcal vaccine. The capsular polysaccharides of these serotypes are not included among, but are antigenically related to the vaccine polysaccharides. Patients responding to immunization with a twofold increase in serum antibodies to vaccine polysaccharides 6 A, 19 F and 23 F were studied. Increased opsonic activity towards serotypes 6 B, 9 V and 19 A was found in 12, four and ten patients respectively. In ten of the patients antibodies to serotypes 6 B, 9 V and 19 A were measured by a staphylococcal protein-A binding assay. A twofold increase in antibodies was found in postvaccination samples from ten, three and seven patients respectively. These results indicate that humans responding to pneumococcal vaccination, may also develop opsonic antibodies to other clinically important pneumococcal serotypes. The degree of cross-immunization appears to vary between individuals and between different pneumococcal serotypes.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1993

Pneumococcal vaccine in the prevention of community-acquired pneumonia: a skeptical view of cost-effectiveness.

Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is an important pathogen that causes pneumonia, bacteremia, and meningitis in adults. In recent years, pneumococcal isolates resistant to penicillin have become increasingly prevalent in the U.S. For these reasons, wide use of the pneumococcal vaccine has been advocated. Pneumococcal vaccines have been proven to be effective in preventing the invasive complications of S pneumoniae infection. The efficacy of pneumococcal vaccines in preventing non-bacteremic pneumonia in high-risk subjects, however, has not been proven. The current pneumococcal vaccine is limited because it includes the antigens of the serotypes known to be associated with invasive infection, and it elicits a thymus-independent, B-cell response that evokes no memory and a poor immunologic response in many of the patients at greatest risk for pneumococcal infection. In the absence of data concerning efficacy of the pneumococcal vaccine against pneumonia, it is difficult to argue that it is cost-effective for this purpose. I concur with the recommendations for use of pneumococcal vaccine to prevent bacteremia, but I am skeptical about the vaccine's efficacy against pneumonia. More data and an improved vaccine are necessary.

Aged↗