Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 May 2;5(6):ofy100.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofy100. eCollection 2018 Jun.

Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Safety in Elderly Adults

Hung Fu Tseng  1 , Lina S Sy  1 , Lei Qian  1 , In-Lu A Liu  1 , Cheryl Mercado  1 , Bruno Lewin  1 , Sara Y Tartof  1 , Jennifer Nelson  2 , Lisa A Jackson  2 , Matthew F Daley  3 , Eric Weintraub  4 , Nicola P Klein  5 , Edward Belongia  6 , Elizabeth G Liles  7 , Steven J Jacobsen  1
Affiliations

Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Safety in Elderly Adults

Hung Fu Tseng et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) and the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) were both recommended to adults aged ≥65 years. The study examines adults ≥65 years for risk of adverse events (AEs) requiring medical attention following vaccination with PCV13 as compared with vaccination with PPSV23, a long-standing vaccine with a satisfactory safety profile.

Methods: The cohort study included 6 Vaccine Safety Datalink sites. The exposed person-time included follow-up time of the first PCV13 received by subjects age ≥65 years from January 1 to August 15, 2015. The comparator person-time included follow-up time after the first PPSV23 received by subjects of the same age during Janaury 1 to August 15 of each year of 2011-2015. The prespecified AEs included cardiovascular events, Bell's palsy, Guillain-Barré syndrome, syncope, erythema multiforme, thrombocytopenia, cellulitis and infection, allergic reaction, and anaphylaxis. Inverse probability of treatment weighting-adjusted Poisson regression models was used to estimate the relative risk (RR) of each AE.

Results: A total of 313 136 doses of PCV13 and 232 591 doses of PPSV23 were included. The adjusted RRs comparing the incidence of AEs following PCV13 vs PPSV23 were all <1, except for anaphylaxis, which was insignificant with an RR of 1.32 (95% confidence interval, 0.30-5.79). Only 1 patient who received PCV13 and 4 other vaccines concomitantly was confirmed by medical chart review as having experienced anaphylaxis after vaccination.

Conclusions: These data do not support an increased rate of adverse events following PCV13 administration in elders compared with PPSV23 and should provide reassurance regarding continued use of PCV13.

Keywords: adult vaccination; adverse events; pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Abbreviations: ED, emergency department; IPTW, inverse probability of treatment weighting; VSD, Vaccine Safety Datalink.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Drijkoningen JJ, Rohde GG. Pneumococcal infection in adults: burden of disease. Clin Microbiol Infect 2014; 20(Suppl 5):45–51. - PubMed
    1. Musher DM, Manof SB, Liss C et al. . Safety and antibody response, including antibody persistence for 5 years, after primary vaccination or revaccination with pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in middle-aged and older adults. J Infect Dis 2010; 201:516–24. - PubMed
    1. Sankilampi U, Honkanen PO, Bloigu A, Leinonen M. Persistence of antibodies to pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine in the elderly. J Infect Dis 1997; 176:1100–4. - PubMed
    1. Metersky ML, Dransfield MT, Jackson LA. Determining the optimal pneumococcal vaccination strategy for adults: is there a role for the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine?Chest 2010; 138:486–90. - PubMed
    1. Jackson L, Neuzil K. Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines. In: Plotkin SA, Orenstein WA, Offit PA, eds. Vaccines. 5th ed Philadelphia, PA: Saunders, Elsevier;2008:570–604.