Even though the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease declined in all groups, including individuals on immunosuppressive drugs, following the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines for infants in Norway, people on chemotherapy were still 20 times more likely to get IPD than individuals not on any immunosuppressants, while individuals on long-term corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive drugs were around 6 times more likely to get the disease.
Health
Rotavirus vaccination reduces the risk of childhood seizures requiring emergency care or hospitalization
Seizures are the most common non-gastrointestinal symptom associated with rotavirus infection. Studies have found that during the year following rotavirus vaccination the risk of childhood seizures were reduced by 18-21% for seizures requiring emergency care or hospitalization in the U.S. and by 16-34% for childhood seizures requiring hospitalization in Spain.
Introduction of PCV-10 in Kenya reduced pneumococcal bacteria in HIV-positive adults, highlighting benefits of immunization
Two years after the introduction of 10-strain pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-10) in Kenya, the percent of HIV-positive adults who carried pneumococcal bacteria declined significantly (from 43% to 28%), but did not decline in HIV-negative adults. However, the reduction in carriage of pneumococcal strains that are in PCV10 declined significantly in both HIV-positive and HIV-negative adults. This reduction was still four times higher in HI- positive vs. HIV-negative adults (2.8% vs. 0.7%), indicating that HIV positive adults continue to be at considerably higher risk of invasive pneumococcal disease than HIV-uninfected adults.
Nasopharyngeal carriage is an indicator of the risk for invasive pneumococcal disease and pneumonia
Adding dTpa vaccination for pregnant women in Australia would prevent thousands of pertussis hospitalizations each year
A study in Australia estimated that adding dTpa vaccination for pregnant women to the current pertussis immunization program for children would prevent an additional 8,800 symptomatic pertussis cases (mostly unreported) and 146 hospitalizations each year in all ages, including infants and their mothers, as well as one death every 22 months. The study found maternal pertussis vaccination to be cost-effective.
Note: The formulation used in this study is abbreviated dTpa.
Vaccinating pregnant women with dTpa vaccine greatly reduces severe pertussis in infants
A case-control study in the state of New South Wales, Australia estimated that vaccination of pregnant women with the dTpa vaccine at 28-32 weeks of pregnancy was highly effective in preventing severe pertussis in infants less than 6 months of age — with a vaccine efficacy rate of 94% against pertussis hospitalizations — and 69% effective in preventing the disease of any severity in infants less than 3 months old.
Note: The formulation used in this study is abbreviated dTpa.
Vaccinating pregnant women with Tdap vaccine in Brazil was 83% effective in preventing pertussis in infants
In a case-control study in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, vaccination of pregnant women with Tdap vaccine was 83% effective in preventing pertussis in their infants less than 2 months of age — before their first dose of DPT — and 81% effective after controlling for household income and mother’s age.
Maternal pertussis vaccination in Argentina reduced pertussis incidence in infants under 2 months by half
In Argentina, more than 50% of deaths due to pertussis occurred in infants younger than 2 months of age — too young to be vaccinated in the country. The impact of maternal pertussis vaccination in protecting their infants against the disease reduced the incidence of pertussis in infants less than 2 months old by half, when comparing states with high and low maternal vaccination rates.
Despite the introduction of a vaccine, newborns in New Zealand still have a high rate of pneumococcal disease Maternal vaccination could help protect these infants
Despite the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) in the childhood immunization program in New Zealand, the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease in neonates (<30 days old) remains relatively high at 6 per 100,000 (versus 2/100,000 in the U.S.). Out of 19 cases in infants <30 days old in this study, 9 (47%) occurred during the first 7 days of life and 6 within the first 48 hours. If proven effective, maternal vaccination would cover 74% to 84% of the serotypes that infected these infants, depending on the vaccine.
Vaccinating pregnant women against pertussis greatly reduces the risk of the disease in infants and infant deaths
Vaccinating pregnant women against pertussis at least one week before delivery was found to be 91% effective in preventing the disease in infants <3 months old and 95% effective in preventing infant deaths in a study conducted in England over a 3-year period following the introduction of dTap-IPV vaccine for pregnant women. Of the 37 deaths from pertussis in infants that occurred in England from 2009 to 2015, 32 (86%) were in infants <2 months of age, highlighting the vulnerability of very young infants to severe pertussis. All but 2 of the deaths in <2 month olds were in children whose mothers hadn’t been vaccinated against pertussis during their pregnancy, while in the 2 other cases, the vaccination occurred too late in the pregnancy (<10 days before the birth).
Immunization during pregnancy protects against serious illnesses and improves pregnancy outcomes
Pregnant women are at particularly high risk of serious illness and death from a variety of bacterial and viral diseases, such as influenza, pneumococcal pneumonia, and Group B strep, for which vaccines exist or are in development. Vaccine-preventable diseases in pregnancy are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as spontaneous abortion, congenital anomalies, preterm birth, and low birth weight.