Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine herd effects on non-invasive pneumococcal pneumonia in elderly

BACKGROUND: Herd protection from infant pneumococcal conjugate vaccination is well established for invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) but not for non-IPD pneumococcal community-acquired pneumonia (PCAP). We assessed the contribution of vaccine-serotypes in non-IPD PCAP in adults 65 years and older in the period 2008-2013. METHODS: This is a post hoc analysis of two prospective studies from the Netherlands. Serotype specific urinary antigen detection and routine microbiological testing were used to categorize episodes as IPD or non-IPD PCAP caused by 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7), PCV10-7 (three additional PCV10 serotypes), PCV13-10 (three additional PCV13 serotypes), and non-PCV13 serotypes. Proportions per vaccine-serotype group were assessed per year from June 1st to May 31st. Time trends were compared to national IPD data. RESULTS: Of 270 non-IPD PCAP episodes with known serotype, PCV7 serotypes decreased from 28% in 2008/2009 to 7% in 2012/2013 (p-value for trend