Pneumococcal vaccine Prevenar 13 lowers COVID-19 risk

Kaiser Permanente Southern California publishes a study on adult patients

After vaccinating PCV13, risk of COVID-19 related infection, hospitalization and death lowered

A study found a pneumococcal vaccine Prevenar 13 could lower the risk related to COVID-19.

 

The Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) has recently presented the study result of the effect of Prevenar 13 (PCV13) on elderly patients’ COVID-19 infection progress.

 

The study was published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

 

The study has shown that in a cohort of U.S.

 

adults aged 65 and older, PCV13 vaccination has been correlated with a decline in COVID-19 diagnosis, hospitalization, and post-hospital mortality.

 

As of March 2020, 3,677 out of 531,033 adults 65 years of age and older, who joined KPSC and were vaccinated by PCV13, were diagnosed with COVID-19, whereas 1,075 were hospitalized, and 334 died.

 

The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of COVID-19 diagnosis, hospitalization, and mortality, which are related to PCV13 vaccination record, was 0.65, respectively.

 

Sara Y.

 

Tartof, PhD, MPH Research Director of KPSC said, "Kaiser Permanent members who received PCV13 vaccine had a lower rate of COVID-19 infection, and the prognosis for diagnosed patients was better." However, in South Korea, the adult vaccination rate of the PCV18 vaccine is declining amid COVID-19.

 

According to the 2020 national vaccination rate (January through November 2020), the vaccination rate for pneumococcal vaccinations over 65 years of age (born 1955) in 2019 was close to 66.4 percent, but the vaccination rate in 2020 (born 1956) was close to 44.3 percent.

 

And the vaccination rate in all major cities like Seoul (35.3 percent in 2020 vs.

 

57.2 percent in 2019), Busan (47.9 percent in 2020 vs.

 

53.7 percent in 2019) and Gwangju (44.1 percent in 2020 vs.

 

73.1 percent in 2019) dropped.

 

Using the ‘Guideline for Practicing Social Distancing in Daily Life, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) is now emphasizing that the elderly aged 65 and over must receive necessary vaccinations, such as pneumococcal vaccine.

 

The management guideline of the National Immunization Program (NIP) 2020 says one dose of a 23-valent pneumococcal protein polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) is required for elderly people aged 65 and over as a principle, but for patients with underlying condition 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) could be prioritized, depending on the condition’s severity and status.

 

Meanwhile, a study of 257 patients confirmed with COVID-19 reported that pneumococcal pneumonia was the most common bacterial infection.

 

A common complication of respiratory viral diseases such as COVID-19 is a secondary bacterial infection, and most viral infections (influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza virus, human metapneumovirus and etc.) can cause secondary complications due to bacterial infections (pneumococcal, haemophilus influenza, staphylococcus aureus and etc.).

 

A survey on pneumococcal pneumonia patients in South Korea showed one out of three patients were infected with pneumococcal pneumonia after diagnosed with respiratory viral infection.