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. 2022 Sep 30;75(7):1149-1153.
doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac100.

Reemergence of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Germany During the Spring and Summer of 2021

Stephanie Perniciaro  1   2 , Mark van der Linden  2 , Daniel M Weinberger  1
Affiliations

Reemergence of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Germany During the Spring and Summer of 2021

Stephanie Perniciaro et al. Clin Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: The incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) decreased worldwide in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, concurrent with nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) intended to stymie transmission of SARS-CoV-2. In 2021, the stringency of these NPI strategies has varied. We investigated age- and serotype-specific variations in IPD case counts in Germany in 2020-2021.

Methods: IPD cases through 30 November 2021 were stratified by age group, serotype, or geographic location. IPD surveillance data in 2020-2021 were compared with (1) IPD surveillance data from 2015-2019, (2) mobility data during 2020 and 2021, and (3) NPI stringency data in 2020 and 2021.

Results: IPD incidence began to return toward baseline among children 0-4 years old in April 2021 and exceeded baseline by June 2021 (a 9% increase over the average monthly values for 2015-2019). Children aged 5-14 years and adults aged 15-34 or ≥80 years showed increases in IPD cases that exceeded baseline values starting in July 2021, with increases also starting in spring 2021. The age distribution and proportion of vaccine-serotype IPD remained comparable to those in previous years, despite lower overall case counts in 2020 and 2021. The percentage change in IPD incidence compared with the previous 5 years was correlated with changes in mobility and with NPI stringency.

Conclusions: IPD levels began to return to and exceed seasonal levels in spring and summer 2021 in Germany, following sharp declines in 2020 that coincided with NPIs related to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Proportions of vaccine serotypes remained largely consistent throughout 2020-2021.

Keywords: Streptococcus pneumonia; Germany; SARS-CoV-2 pandemic; invasive pneumococcal disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. S. P. has received travel fees from Pfizer, unrelated to the current work, a research grant from MSD, related to the current work, funding from the National Institutes of Health, outside the submitted work, and consulting fees from Redline Editorial; S. P. also holds stock or stock options in General Electric, 3M, Proctor & Gamble, Otis Worldwide, Raytheon Technologies, and Carrier. M. v. d. L. has received financial support from Pfizer and MSD to conduct invasive pneumococcal disease surveillance in Germany and has served on advisory boards for and received speaker fees and travel support from Pfizer and MSD, also unrelated to the current work. D. M. W. has received consulting fees from Pfizer, MSD, GlaxoSmthKline, and Affinivax, unrelated to the current work, and is principal investigator on research grants from Pfizer, unrelated to the current work, and MSD, related to the current work. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) case count by age group, from January 2015 to November 2021. Gray lines represent cases counts in the years before 2020 (2015–2019); orange line, 2020; and green line, 2021.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Stringency Index for nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), changes in work, transit, and retail mobility, and change in invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), from March 2020 through July 2021 (dates given in month/date/year format). Mobility data were obtained from Google’s Community Mobility Reports, and Stringency Index data from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker [21] (see Analysis Methods for details). Abbreviation: COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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