Data

Clinical and Immunogenicity Data of Pneumococcal Vaccines in Patients With Cardiovascular Diseases

Apart from reducing the incidence of pneumonia, pneumococcal vaccinations have been implicated in lowering CV morbidity and mortality in the elderly population. Therefore, available data suggest the use of vaccination in the HF population.¹ Although there is scarcity of randomised controlled trial evidence on the safety and efficacy of pneumococcal vaccines in CV events, it has been suggested that these vaccines may have a protective effect in patients with HF.²

Tseng et al. performed a retrospective cohort study on older patients aged ≥65 years, vaccinated either with PPSV23 or PCV13, to compare the risk of adverse events following vaccination. The prespecified adverse events studied included CV events. The total number of doses of PCV13 and PPSV23 included in the study were 3,13,136 and 2,32,591, respectively. The study reported no increased rate of adverse events with PCV13 use, as compared with PPSV23, and provided reassurance regarding continuous use of PCV13 in this group of adults.³

Using a test-negative design, McLaughlin et al. performed a real-world study to evaluate the effectiveness of PCV13 against hospitalisation for CAP in older US adults aged ≥65 years. The study included a high-risk group of patients, including those with congestive heart failure (31.9%). The estimated vaccine effectiveness of PCV13 in the risk group of patients was 73.3 for all VT-CAP and 70.7 for non-bacteraemic VT-CAP. Therefore, the study reassured the effectiveness of PCV13 against VT-CAP in elderly patients with congestive HF.⁴

CAP, community-acquired pneumonia; CV, cardiovascular; HF, heart failure; PCV13, 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine; PPSV23, 23-valent pneumococcal plain polysaccharide vaccine; VT-CAP, vaccine-type community-acquired pneumonia.

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