Pneumonia - PCV
Pneumovax 23 - Pneumococcal Vaccine, Polyvalent Manufacturer: Merck & Co., Inc, - Indication: PNEUMOVAX 23 is indicated for vaccination against pneumococcal disease caused by those pneumococcal types included in the vaccine.
PNEUMOVAX® 23 (pneumococcal vaccine polyvalent) package insert (pdf)
INDICATION and Safety Information for Prevnar 13
Pneumococcal disease describes a group of infections caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae), also known as pneumococcus. There are more than 90 strains of pneumococcus. The first childhood vaccine focused on 7-strains that were thought to cause infection (Prevnar or Prevnar 7). Several more strains have emerged and now the vaccine has expanded to cover 13 strains (Prevnar 13) (Prevnar 20).
June 10, 2021 - Prevnar 20 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC BLA Approval and BLA Accelerated Approval "Under this license, you are approved to manufacture Pneumococcal 20-valent Conjugate Vaccine pneumococcal polysaccharide Serotypes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 7F, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, 19F, and 23F at Wyeth CRM197 protein and pneumococcal polysaccharide Serotypes 8, 10A, 11A, 12F, 15B, 22F, and 33F at Wyeth polysaccharide-CRM197 conjugate Serotypes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 7F, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, 19F, and 23F at Pfizer and polysaccharide-CRM197 conjugate Serotypes 8, 10A, 11A, 12F, 15B, 22F, and 33F at Wyeth The final formulated product will be manufactured, filled, and primary packaged at Pfizer , and labeled and secondary packaged at Pfizer Manufacturing . You may label your product with the proprietary name PREVNAR 20 and market it in 1 mL glass syringe with a Luer lock closure with 0.5 mL dose of vaccine.
June 9, 2021 - On a vaccine roll, Pfizer scores FDA nod for Prevnar 13 follow-up ahead of rival Merck "With Tuesday’s FDA nod for its next-gen pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar 20, the pharmaceutical giant scored its second major vaccine win in seven months as it crossed the finish line ahead of rival Merck."
May 21, 2021 - Sequential administration of Prevnar 13™ and PNEUMOVAX™ 23 in healthy participants 50 years of age and older "Analyses of AEs reported after each vaccination showed comparable rates of injection site and systemic AEs following receipt of PCV13 or Placebo between the two vaccination groups but higher rates of injection site and systemic AEs in Group #1 than Group #2 during Days 1–14 following receipt of PPSV23. Although rates of reported systemic AEs following PPSV23 were generally comparable between the two vaccination groups, the shorter interval (2 months in Group #1) compared to the longer interval (6 months in Group #2) between PCV13 and PPSV23 was associated with significantly higher rates of injection site pain (79.3% versus 64.0%), injection site swelling (50.5% versus 29.3%) and injection site erythema (41.5% versus 29.3%).
February 1, 2020 - Priming with Prevnar® improves global pneumococcal vaccine responses to Pneumovax® in Asthmatic Adults "In our study, Group B demonstrated moderate (180-270 mcg/mL) vaccine response versus Group A questionable (40-180 mcg/mL) response. We believe this supports the idea that priming with PCV13 improves global pneumococcal vaccine responses to PPSV23. Future studies need to assess testing validity, reliability, and vaccine responsiveness over longer periods."
November 1, 2017 - Prevnar-13 vaccine failure in a mouse model for vitamin A deficiency "Given that vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is known to affect children in both developed and developing countries, we asked if VAD could be responsible, at least in part, for PCV-13 vaccine failures. In a mouse model for VAD, we found that PCV-13 failed to elicit binding and neutralizing antibody activities. Unlike vaccinated, vitamin-replete animals, vaccinated VAD animals were not protected from lethal pneumococcus infections."
September 15, 2015 - Intervals between Pneumococcal Vaccines - ACIP offers immunization practice recommendations "The reasons behind this recommendation are interesting and now make the recommended interval consistent with what most clinicians are currently doing. This is the interval that is required for payment of both vaccines by Medicare. Since about 85% of adults in the US aged ≥65 years have seen a clinician in the past 6 months, and over 93% within the preceding year, the recommendation is also easy to implement without requiring additional visits."
June 9, 2015 - The Potential for Reducing the Number of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Doses While Sustaining Herd Immunity in High-Income Countries (full text) "Currently, the conditions for regimen simplification, and therefore the potential benefits, are limited to high-income countries. The additional epidemiologic and programmatic considerations around a two-dose PCV schedule in low-income countries are complex and beyond the scope of this commentary."
- Competing interests: KLOB has research funding related to pneumococcal vaccine from National Institutes of Health, Glaxosmithkline, Pfizer, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance.
- DG’s laboratory is in receipt of collaborative and/or contract funding from vaccine manufacturers including Merck, Sanofi Pasteur, GSK, and Novartis, and DG has received honoraria or consulting fees in the past from Merck, GSK, Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis, and Pfizer.
- WJE’s partner works for GSK. JAGS is a member of the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation, has received financial support for research on pneumococcal vaccines from the Wellcome Trust, the National Institute for Health Research (UK), GAVI—the Vaccine Alliance, and PATH Vaccine Solutions, has done consultancy work on pneumococcal vaccines for PATH Vaccine Solutions, and received financial support for research by GSK in 2009/10. SF, AJVH and EM declare no conflict of interest.
June 4, 2015 - Safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of 15-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in healthy adults "AE incidences were comparable between vaccine groups although numerically higher frequencies of erythema (33.3% versus 13.3%), swelling (50.0% versus 23.3%), and myalgia (63.3% versus 36.7%) were reported among PCV-15versus PCV-7 recipients." Comment: See who sponsored the study here
April 21, 2015 - Five winters of pneumococcal serotype replacement in UK carriage following PCV introduction (full text) "On-going substantial serotype replacement further indicates that continuing surveillance of carriage in addition to IPD is required to inform the future of pneumococcal vaccination."..."NHS Foundation Trust/University of Southampton that are sponsored by vaccine manufacturers but receives no personal payments from them. SNF, JMJ and SCC have participated in advisory boards for vaccine manufacturers but receive no personal payments for this work. SNF, SCC and JMJ have received financial assistance from vaccine manufacturers to attend conferences."..."This study was made possible via investigator-initiated research grants from Pfizer to SCC, SNF and JMJ."
April 2015 - Differential Impact of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines on Bacteremic Pneumonia Versus Other Invasive Pneumococcal Disease "Non-13VT disease prevalence and incidence increased significantly during the study period, in both BP and non-BP IPD. The proportion of 'non-13VT serotypes' causing BP and non-BP IPD increased from 5% and 13% in the pre-PCV period to 59% and 74% in the PCV13 period, respectively. The incidence of non-PCV13 BP and non-BP IPD increased in the respective periods by approximately 5-fold and 2-fold. The most common serotype among non-13VT serotypes was 12F. These 'trends were more pronounced in children <2 years old', probably reflecting lower vaccine uptake in older children, leading to a delayed effect."
March 30, 2015 - Choosing between 7-, 10- and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in childhood: A review of economic evaluations (2006–2014) "A more thorough exploration of uncertainty should be made in future analyses on this subject, as we lack understanding to adequately model herd and serotype replacement effects to reliably predict the population impact of PCVs. The introduction of further improved PCVs in an environment of evolving antibiotic resistance and under the continuing influence of previous PCVs implies that the complexity and data requirements for relevant analyses will further increase. Decision makers using these analyses should not just rely on an analysis from a single manufacturer."
March 2015 - A ‘cocoon immunization strategy’ among patients with inflammatory bowel disease "Conclusion: The use of nonmandatory vaccines recommended in family members of patients with IBD is insufficient. Further vaccine promotion and education of patients as well as their healthcare providers is required. A particular concern is associated with the pneumococcal, influenza, rotaviruses, and varicella infections. Nonimmunized and varicella-zoster virus-seronegative patients should be vaccinated, and in case of immunosuppression, vaccination of children in the household is required."
February 25, 2015 -Early impact of PCV7/PCV13 sequential introduction to the national pediatric immunization plan, on adult invasive pneumococcal disease: A nationwide surveillance study "This was accompanied by a 52% increase in non-VT13 strains. These changes were most apparent in winter. PCV impact was most pronounced in younger adults (39% decrease in overall IPD with only a non-significant increase in non-VT13 cases) while in those >65 years a non-significant decrease in overall IPD was observed with a 64% increase in non-VT13 cases. Non-VT13 serotypes that increased significantly were 12F, 15A 10A and 6 C. A continuous reduction in isolates with penicillin MIC > 0.06 μg/ml was observed (26% to 11%, p < 0.001)."
February 2015 - Immunological effect of administration of sequential doses of Haemophilus influenzae type b and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in the same versus alternating limbs in the routine infant immunisation schedule: an open-label randomised controlled trial "In this open-label, randomised, controlled study, eligible healthy infants 6–12 weeks of age recruited through five clinical trials units (four in the UK and one in Malta) were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to two vaccination groups: consistent limb or alternating limb."..."Use of different (alternating) limbs for sequential doses of routine infant vaccines does not reduce, and might enhance, immunogenicity. The underlying mechanism for this finding warrants further research."
- Funding NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals.
February 2015 - Safety, Tolerability and Immunogenicity of 15-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in Toddlers Previously Vaccinated With 7-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (full text) "'Funding for this research was provided by Merck & Co., Inc. A.S.M., M.J.D. and W.J.W. were employed by Merck at the time of this research. Other than employees of Merck & Co., Inc. (as indicated on the title page), all authors have been investigators for the sponsor. Employees may hold stock and/or stock options in the company. The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose."..."The most common systemic AEs were fatigue, myalgia, pyrexia and irritability. These AEs were solicited during the study and recipients of either formulation of PCV15 tended to have higher frequencies of these AEs than recipients of PCV7. A higher observed percentage of recipients of adjuvanted PCV15 reported myalgia, irritability or pyrexia versus those who received either nonadjuvanted PCV15 or PCV7. In addition, 1 recipient of adjuvanted PCV15 reported an AE of febrile convulsion (day 10 postvaccination, lasting 2 minutes) that 'was deemed not related to the study vaccine' by the investigator."
January 23, 2015 - Persistence of IgG Antibody Following Routine Infant Immunization with the 7-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine."Conclusions: PCV serotype specific IgG concentrations 4 years following PCV vaccination do not persist above natural levels for most serotypes. Exposure to pneumococcus may be critical in maintaining persistent serotype specific IgG; the elimination of circulating vaccine type pneumococci by PCV may have effects on long-term immunity."
January 15, 2015 - Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines PREVNAR 13 and SynflorIX in sequence or alone in high-risk Indigenous infants (PREV-IX_COMBO): protocol of a randomised controlled trial (full text) "Adverse reactions are directly observed during postvaccination period of '15 min. The iDSMB is informed about population trends in hospitalised cases of the disease potentially related to interventions or the probable-related adverse events."..."Competing interests: In the past 5 years,
- AJL has received research funds for surveillance of otitis media and OM pathogen nasopharyngeal carriage from GlaxoSmithKline (manufacturers of Synflorix) and Pfizer (manufacturers of Prevenar13).
- AJL has had costs of conference attendance reimbursed by GSK and Pfizer. AJL has no paid consultancies with either company.
- KM has served on Advisory Boards for GSK and Pfizer. GSK is providing in kind support for the Vietnam Pneumococcal trial, of which he is the PI.
- HSV, RMA and PSM have received research funds for surveillance of otitis media and OM pathogen nasopharyngeal carriage from GlaxoSmithKline (manufacturers of Synflorix).
December 24, 2014 - Effectiveness of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines in preventing pneumonia development and hospitalization: a prospective cohort study "Pneumococcal vaccination did not reduce pneumonia development or hospitalization. In conclusion, influenza rather than PPV23 vaccination may reduce pneumonia development and hospitalization in patients with preceding ILI."
December 5, 2014 - Maternal immunization with pneumococcal 9-valent conjugate vaccine and early infant otitis media "Results suggested that immunizing pregnant women with PCV-9 increased infants’ risk of acute OM in the first 6 months of life, and this correlated with decreased infant antibody responses to their infant Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine serotypes, but did not influence antibody responses to 3 other serotypes two of which were in maternal vaccine (types 1 and 5) and one was a control (type 7F). Explanations for these results include dampening of infant antibody production by high levels of passively acquired maternal pneumococcal antibodies and/or altered B lymphocyte immune responses in infants exposed to these specific polysaccharide antigens in utero."
December 2014 - Immunization for Streptococcus pneumoniae Infections in High-Risk Children "While previous reports documented a mixed Th1/Th2 or Th2-skewed response to DTaP vaccine in children, our data suggest that following the first DTaP booster, children aged 16 to 19 months have a cytokine profile consistent with a Th1 response, which is known to be essential for clearance of pertussis infection. To better define aP-induced immune responses following the booster vaccine, further studies are needed to assess cytokine responses pre- and post booster in DTaP recipients"
November 25, 2014 - Title: Multivalent pneumococcal polysaccharide-protein conjugate composition (patent) "Serotype 3 accounted for up to 8.7% of pneumococcal serotypes associated with otitis media. Thus, the importance of types 3 and 7F in otitis media, as well as in IPD, warrants their inclusion in a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. However, attempts to produce a multivalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that exhibits significant immunogenicity with respect to serotype 3 polysaccharides have been unsuccessful."
November 2014 - A Bivalent Vaccine Based on a Replication-Incompetent Influenza Virus Protects against Streptococcus pneumoniae and Influenza Virus Infection "Although vaccination is the most effective prophylaxis against these infectious agents, no single vaccine simultaneously provides protective immunity against both S. pneumoniae and influenza virus."..."Here, we used reverse genetics to generate a replication-incompetent influenza virus carrying the sequence for the antigenic region of pneumococcal surface protein A and demonstrated that mice immunized with this virus were completely protected from lethal doses of infection with either influenza virus or Streptococcus pneumoniae." Comment: They have been combining pneumonia along with influenza mortality statistics for years to increase fears. Now, they have been studying ways to combine the vaccines.
November 28, 2015 - Safety, reactogenicity and immunogenicity of a novel pneumococcal protein-based vaccine in adults: A phase I/II randomized clinical study (full text) "Unsolicited symptoms post-booster were reported by six participants (27.3%) in the dPly/PhtD-10 group and five participants (23.8%) in the dPly/PhtD-30 group. One participant in each group reported a grade 3 unsolicited AE (pharyngitis [dPly/PhtD-10] and upper respiratory tract infection [dPly/PhtD-30]). One participant in each group reported an unsolicited AE that was considered vaccine-related (aphthous stomatitis [dPly/PhtD-10] and peripheral edema in the right hand of a participant vaccinated in the left arm [dPly/PhtD-30]). No SAEs were reported during the booster study."..."GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA was the funding source and was involved in all stages of the study conduct and analysis. GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA also took responsibility for all costs associated with the development and publishing of the present article."
October 2, 2014 - A randomised trial to evaluate the immunogenicity, reactogenicity, and safety of the 10-valent pneumococcal non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae protein D conjugate vaccine (PHiD-CV) co-administered with routine childhood vaccines in Singapore and Malaysia (full text) "One Grade 3 unsolicited AE considered causally related to vaccination (urticaria) was reported in the ComCom group. Four toddlers in the ComCom group reported SAEs; none were considered causally related to vaccination and none were fatal."
- Competing interests: CYC declared having received grants from GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA for research coordination, clinics, and vaccines. CYC received payment for training workshop lectures and for travelling to a conference.
- MTK and FSL declared having received grants for carrying out the reported study and other studies and travel fees for presenting the study results at conferences. MTK received honorarium as speaker at meetings organised by the Malaysian Paediatric Association.
- PCC received payment for giving talks on vaccination to doctors and nurses and for travelling to a conference.
- DB, FS, YLT were employed by GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines during the study period. KS and MH worked as consultant for GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines. DB declared stock options ownership in GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines.
- Role of the funding source: GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA was the funding source and was involved in all stages of the study conduct and analysis. GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA also took responsibility for all costs associated with the development and publishing of the present manuscript.
September 10, 2014 - Safety, Tolerability, and Immunogenicity of 15-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in Toddlers Previously Vaccinated with 7-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine. "However, diseases caused by serotypes not included in PCV7 have increased. A 15-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine containing serotypes in PCV7 and 8 additional serotypes (1, 3, 5, 6A, 7F, 19A, 22F, 33F) was developed and evaluated in toddlers 12 to 15 months of age. Comment: This vaccine is a huge money maker for Pfizer see here. There is over 100 strains of pneumonia, we may well be seeing PCV 100 in the near future.
August 8, 2014 - Vaccine effectiveness of the pneumococcal Haemophilus influenzae protein D conjugate vaccine (PHiD-CV10) against clinically suspected invasive pneumococcal disease: a cluster-randomised trial "The vaccine effectiveness was 50% (95% CI 32—63) in the 30 527 infants with three plus one and two plus one schedules combined and the absolute incidence rate reduction was 207 episodes per 100 000 person-years (95% CI 127—286). The vaccine effectiveness against the patient-file verified non-laboratory-confirmed invasive pneumococcal disease was 71% (95% CI 52—83) in infant three plus one and two plus one schedules combined."..."Funding: GlaxoSm
July 2014 - Acute thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura after pneumococcal vaccination "We report the case of a 68-year-old woman with acute thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) that developed after pneumococcal vaccination. She was found in a confusional state with high fever 15 days after vaccination. Laboratory data showed hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia, and blood smear showed fragmented erythrocytes.
May 2014 - Toll-Like Receptor 2-Dependent Protection against Pneumococcal Carriage by Immunization with Lipidated Pneumococcal Proteins "These experiments suggest that the' lipid moieties' enhance the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of pneumococcal TH17 antigens through activation of TLR2. Thus, triggering TLR2 with an antigen-specific protein subunit formulation is a possible strategy for the development of a serotype-independent pneumococcal vaccine that would reduce pneumococcal carriage."
March 18, 2014 - Systemic inflammatory reaction after pneumococcal vaccine: A case series "This is a clinical case series of 5 adult patients who received the influenza and PS23 vaccines and experienced a cellulitis-like reaction, fever, and leukocytosis in the days following vaccination. Four of the five patients received the influenza and PS23 vaccines in the same arm. The patient who received the vaccines in opposite arms had the local findings in the arm that received the PS23 vaccine. All 5 patients sought care and 4 were admitted to the hospital for observation or treatment with intravenous antibiotics."..."Antibiotics were not helpful in treating these patients’ local and systemic symptoms."
February 2014 -Influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: Current views upon safety and immunogenicity "The use of non-adjuvanted vaccine preparations should be preferred in order to avoid the onset of the “Autoimmune (auto-inflammatory) Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants” or “ASIA”. In this review, we report that influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations in SLE patients are: 1) recommended to reduce the risk of development of these infections; 2) strongly suggested in elderly subjects and in those receiving high dose immunosuppressive treatments; 3) efficacious, even if specific immune responses may be lower than in the general population, as generally the humoral response fulfills the criteria for vaccine immunogenicity; and 4) safe in inactive disease although may favor a transient increase in autoantibody levels and rarely disease flares."
January 18, 2013 - Benefit of Conjugate Pneumococcal Vaccination in Preventing Influenza Hospitalization in Children: A Case-Control Study "Conclusions: The results obtained suggest that, in children less than 5 years of age, PCV vaccination reduced hospitalization during the 2009 -2010 pandemic wave. By contrast, there was no observed benefit of vaccination in the 2010-2011 influenza season."
January 2, 2014 - Susceptibility profiles and correlation with pneumococcal serotypes soon after implementation of the 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Brazil "Our population of pneumococci represents a transition era, soon after the introduction of PCV10. Non-susceptible patterns were found to be associated with classical PCV serotypes (especially serotype 14), which is still highly prevalent, and non-PCV10 ones (19A), which may disseminate, occupying the biological niche 'left by the vaccine serotypes."
December 25, 2013 - Characterization of Streptococcus pneumoniae invasive serotype 19A isolates recovered in Colombia "19A increased in Colombia was associated with the spread of isolates genetically related to ST320 and ST276, and emergence of capsular variants of worldwide-disseminated clones."
December 15, 2013 -Pneumococcal Serotype Diversity among Adults in Various Countries, Influenced by Pediatric Pneumococcal Vaccination Uptake "After pediatric PCV adoption, the median differential was 24.4% (p<0.003).The median differential in IPD 'incidence among adults was 5.6 cases/100,000 'population 'before pediatric PCV' use and '6.4 afterward' (p=0.52). The differentials for the serotypes in alternate vaccines helps explain recent national recommendations for one or both vaccines in various populations. These differences may widen further, with more extensive pediatric uptake of higher-valence PCVs."
December 13, 2012 - Bacterial Polysaccharide–Mediated Downregulation of TACI and B-Cell Apoptosis Contribute to the Hyporesponsiveness Against Bacterial Polysaccharides Vaccines "In their study, the authors showed that the booster immunization with MCPS in mice previously immunized with a conjugate MCPS vaccine (MCPS-CRM197) resulted in a decrease in MCPS-specific memory B cells and plasma cells. Even the inclusion of the potent adjuvant CpG did not rescue the loss of MCPS-specific B cells."
December 2, 2013 - Invasive Pneumococcal Disease, Comorbidities, and Polysaccharide Vaccine Use in Children Aged 5–15 Years in England and Wales "Among PPV23-vaccinated children with comorbidities, however, there was no evidence of protection against PPV23 serotypes."
December 1, 2013 - Decreased immune response to pneumococcal conjugate vaccine after 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in children "PPV23 vaccination of toddlers may compromise subsequent responses to pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. The clinical relevance of this finding is unclear."
November 21, 2012 - Pneumococcal Capsular Switching: A Historical Perspective "Temporal changes in serotype distributions are well documented, but the contribution of capsular switching to such changes is unknown. Furthermore, it is unclear to what extent vaccine-induced selective pressures drive capsular switching."
September 2013 - Changes in Infectious Disease Mortality in Children During the Past Three Decades "We estimated that pneumococcal conjugate vaccines would have prevented 2 deaths annually in our population, rotavirus vaccines 1 to 2 deaths, influenza vaccine 1 death and varicella vaccine 0.7 death. Conclusions: We found that even though mortality from infectious diseases in childhood decreased markedly during the period concerned, it could have been further reduced by means of existing vaccines. Even though the number of deaths prevented would have been small, the number of years of life saved would have been great because the life expectancy of '''''children is long. Comment: The number of lives DESTROYED by these vaccines and the amount of money spent to “save” these few lives is what should be studied. The many billions of dollars could have been spent on clean water, housing, education, shoes. The last sentence here is simply stupid…unless the number of life LOST by the vaccines is also discussed.
May 28, 2013 - Concomitant Administration of Pneumococcal-23 and Zoster Vaccines Provides Adequate Herpes Zoster Coverage (July/August) "Concomitant administration of zoster vaccine and PPV23 is advocated by the CDC and FDA to improve immunization rates among vaccine-eligible individuals. Since there is no direct evidence that simultaneous administration of zoster vaccine and PPV23 puts patients at increased risk of developing herpes zoster, the vaccines should be given during the same office visit to avoid a missed opportunity to vaccinate against 2 serious diseases."
May 18, 2013 -Immunogenicity and safety of a 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine compared to a 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in pneumococcal vaccine-naive adults (full text) "'Most of the AEs include diseases and conditions commonly observed among older adults, and infectious disorders were the most frequently occurring types of AEs in all groups. One (1) subject died but the event leading to death was not considered related to the study vaccine, and there were no vaccine related SAEs."..."Disclosure statement: AG, KUJ, DJ, CD, DAS, EAE, WCG, and BS-T are current employees of Pfizer and may hold stock options. LAJ, and MvC received funding from Pfizer to conduct this study. LAJ received support from Pfizer for attendance at a scientific meeting. The Group Health Research Institute has received grants from Pfizer, Novartis, Inviragen, Sanofi-Pasteur, the National Institutes for Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
November-December 2012 - Interventions to Improve Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccination Rates Among Community-Dwelling Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (full text) "Interventions that appeared effective were patient financial incentives (influenza only), audit and feedback (influenza only), clinician reminders, clinician financial incentives (influenza only), team change, patient outreach, delivery site changes (influenza only), clinician education (pneumococcus only), and case management (pneumococcus only). Patient outreach was more effective if personal contact was involved."
November 2012 - Pneumonia immunization in older adults: review of vaccine effectiveness and strategies "The presence of selection bias and use of nonspecific end points in these studies make the current evidence inconclusive in terms of overall benefit. The development of more immunogenic vaccines through new formulations or addition of adjuvants holds the promise of revolutionizing delivery and improving efficacy."
October 5, 2012 - Acute exercise enhancement of pneumococcal vaccination response: A randomised controlled trial of weaker and stronger immune response "This data indicates the effectiveness of exercise as a vaccine adjuvant, particularly in weaker responses. Thus, given the potential public health benefits of no-cost behavioural intervention to enhance response to vaccination, testing in at-risk populations should be pursued."
September 7, 2012 - Evaluation of a toolkit to introduce standing orders for influenza and pneumococcal vaccination in adults: A multimodal pilot project "Immunization of adults with influenza vaccine and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine remains lower than recommended levels. Standing order programs (SOPs) in which non-physician medical personnel are permitted to assess an adult patient's immunization status and administer vaccines without an individual physician order are a proven method of increasing adult vaccinations, yet they are used by less than one half of primary care physicians caring for adults."
July 11, 2012 -Pneumococcal vaccination during pregnancy for preventing infant infection "They compared 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine with control vaccine. All women received a single injection of pneumococcal or control vaccine (where used). The women’s mean gestational age at the time of immunization was between 27 and 38 weeks, where stated. Only two trials with 241 pregnancies reported on neonatal infections. This was not enough information to say whether pneumococcal vaccination during pregnancy led to fewer infant infections. Two trials with 146 pregnancies reported on infant nasal carriage of pneumococci (pneumococcal colonization), which was not enough evidence to show an effect in reducing colonization at two to three months of age or six to seven months of age."
February 22, 2012 - Cost-effectiveness of Adult Vaccination Strategies Using Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Compared With Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine "Overall, PCV13 vaccination was favored compared with PPSV23, but the analysis was sensitive to assumptions about PCV13 effectiveness against nonbacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia and the magnitude of potential indirect effects from childhood PCV13 on pneumococcal serotype distribution."
September 7, 2009 - Recommendations for the Use of Vaccines Manufactured with Bovine-Derived Materials "In 2000, CBER learned that its recommendations regarding the sourcing of bovine materials for the manufacture of vaccines had not been followed in at least one instance'''. As a result of this finding, CBER requested all vaccine manufacturers to review the source for all bovine-derived materials used in the manufacture of their vaccines. This review identified additional vaccines manufactured with bovine-derived materials that had been obtained from European countries on the USDA list." ['''CBER 'is the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, a division of the FDA.] Comment: CBER, the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, is a division of the FDA. Bovine calf serum is used for the production of the following vaccines: rubella, chickenpox, polio, Prevnar, and the adult pneumonia shot. Nearly 100 percent of this commercially available serum obtained from cows is contaminated with bovine viruses. Are we incorporating chicken and cow genetic material into the human genome? Are we altering the genes of future generations in unknown ways through vaccines?
December 8, 2005 - Are US flu death figures more PR than science? "CDC states that the historic 1968-9 “Hong Kong flu” pandemic killed 34 000 Americans. At the same time, CDC claims 36 000 Americans annually die from flu. What is going on? Meanwhile, according to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), “influenza and pneumonia” took 62 034 lives in 2001—61 777 of which were attributed to pneumonia and 257 to flu, and in only 18 cases was flu virus positively identified. Between 1979 and 2002, NCHS data show an average 1348 flu deaths per year (range 257 to 3006)."