The aim of the study was to study the changes in the incidence of community acquired pneumonia (CAP) and hospitalizations related to CAP in children âgés of 5 years, following the establishment in Turkey of a National Immunization Program (NIP) of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13). In November 2008, PCV7 was included in Turkey’s NIP, then in late 2011 it was replaced with PCV13. Incidence changes from 2011 to 2017 were examined for CAP and CAP related hospitalizations per 100,000 children. A total of 225,963 kid visits were recorded, 4863 (2.15%) and 1086 (22%) children were diagnosed with CAP.
From 5448 to 1144/100,000 the incidence of CAP decreased between 2011 and 2017. When compared with post-PCV13 the CAP average yearly incidence was 22 per cent smaller in the transition period of PCV13. Also from 943 to 335/100,000 from 2011 to 2017, the incidence of CAP related hospitalisation dropped considerably. In addition, between the transition phase of PCV13 and the post-PCV13 period, average incidence of hospitalizations decreased by 35%. Thus the study showed that CAP and CAP hospitalisation were substantially decreased in children aged 5 years after PCV13 was introduced in the Turkish NIP.
Reference: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645515.2020.1727212
