Hospitalization for Invasive Pneumococcal Diseases in Young Children before Use of 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, Suzhou, China

Abstract

A 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) was introduced in China in April 2017. We describe 105 children <5 years of age who were hospitalized for IPD at Soochow University Affiliated Children’s Hospital in Suzhou, China, during January 2010–December 2017. We calculated the incidence of hospitalization for IPD as 14.55/100,000 children in Suzhou. We identified 8 different capsular serotypes: 6B (28.4% of cases), 14 (18.9% of cases), 19A (18.9% of cases), 19F (12.2% of cases), 23F (10.8% of cases), 20 (4.1% of cases), 9V (4.1% of cases), and 15B/C (2.7% of cases). These results provide baseline data of IPD before the introduction of this vaccine in China, enabling researchers to better understand its effects on IPD incidence.

Epidemiology and Drug Resistance of Pathogens Isolated from Cerebrospinal Fluids at a Children’s Medical Center in Eastern China During 2006–2020

“…Previous studies also reported that children were more susceptible to Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, and this is probably due to the high colonization rate and immature immune system of children. 14 In 2017, a 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae was introduced in China 27 and the isolated number of Streptococcus pneumoniae was slightly decreased in 2016–2020 in this study. However, it was listed as a category II vaccine and was not mandatorily prescribed in China.…”

“…However, it was listed as a category II vaccine and was not mandatorily prescribed in China. 27 More efforts are still needed to increase the coverage of this vaccine and reduce pneumococcal infection.…”

A randomized, open-label, phase 3 study evaluating safety and immunogenicity of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Chinese infants and children under 6 years of age

“… 18–23 In China, approximately 70% of patients <5 years of age diagnosed with IPD at a single children’s hospital during 2010–2017 were 1–<5 years of age, and IPD hospitalization rates were 11.2 and 13.3 per 100,000 among children 1–<2 and 2 − <5 years of age, respectively. 24 A similar study found that among children of all ages who were diagnosed with IPD during 2008–2017 within the pediatric departments of two other Chinese hospitals, more than half were 1 − 5 years of age. 25 More broadly, pneumonia was responsible for 7.6% of deaths among Chinese children 1 − 4 years of age in 2015.…”