In 2012, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) advised that high-risked people aged above 19 years must be immunized with the recently approved 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13). In addition to the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination, this was done. Previously, there was no information on vaccine-specific uptake among these people. The researchers conducted a retrospective observational study on PCV13 uptake in immunocompromised individuals aged 19–64 years. From October 2011 to October 2016, data were collected from insurance claims and electronic health records. The demographics of the two database cohorts were similar: mean age 49.7–51.0 years, 57–62 percent female, and >70 percent white. The most prevalent high-risk category was iatrogenic immunosuppression. PCV13 was used in 7.3 percent of insurance claims and 9.9 percent of EHR. Patients with HIV had the greatest rate of PCV13 uptake, while patients with multiple risk factors outperformed the norm in both cohorts. A Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to cover patients who were lost to follow-up, with 441,657 insurance claims and 722,071 EHR patients, respectively. PCV13 adoption was only slightly higher: 9.3 percent for insurance claims and 13.1 percent for EHR, respectively.

In all overall assessments four years after the ACIP 2012 recommendation, PCV13 uptake in high-risk individuals aged 19–64 years was low at 15%. Clinicians who care for these individuals should follow the ACIP guideline to reduce the risk of pneumococcal illness.

Reference: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645515.2019.1632683

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