Pneumococcal Meningitis Hospitalization Rates Lowered With PCV13

The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) is associated with decreased rates of hospitalization for pneumococcal meningitis (PM), according to a recent study.

PCV13 was introduced in the United States in 2010. However, the effect of PCV13 on PM is not currently known.

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For their study, the researchers evaluated 10,493 hospitalizations due to PM in the National Inpatient Sample from 2008 to 2014.

The researchers identified patients with an ICD-9-CM code for PM of 320.1, and calculated rates using US Census data as the denominator. National estimates were determined using data weights. The periods 2008 to 2009 (late post-PCV7), 2010 (transition year), and 2011 to 2014 (post-PCV13) were assessed.

Results indicated that, overall, the incidence of PM had decreased by 39% (0.62 to 0.38 cases per 100,000) over the course of the study period. In addition, the average annualized PM rate had decreased by 45% (2.19 to 1.20 per 100,000) among children younger than 2 years.

The researchers noted that 1016 patients had died due to PM, and that the case fatality rate varied between 8.3% and 11.2% throughout the study period.

“Following the introduction of PCV13, hospitalization rates for PM decreased significantly with no subsequent improvements in case-fatality rate,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Jacobs DM, Yung F, Hart E, Nguyen MNH, Shaver A. Trends in pneumococcal meningitis hospitalizations following the introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the United States. Vaccine. 2017;35(45):6160-6165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.09.050.