Low Pneumococcal Vaccination among Patients with Psoriasis in Germany: Results from Vac-Pso

Abstract

While suboptimal pneumococcal vaccination rates have been reported in immunosuppressed patients with rheumatic diseases, data for patients with psoriasis (PsO) or atopic dermatitis (AD) are scarce. Pneumococcal vaccination in Germany is recommended in patients with certain comorbidities, immunosuppression, and/or aged 60 years or above. The aim of this multicenter cross-sectional study was to investigate the pneumococcal vaccination rate in patients with PsO compared to patients with AD and to evaluate patient perceptions. All patients completed a questionnaire on vaccination status and perceptions, patient and disease characteristics, as well as comorbidity. Medical records and vaccination certificates were reviewed. Over the whole cohort (n = 327 PsO (41.9% female), n = 98 AD (42.9% female)), 83.8% and 42.9% of PsO and AD patients, respectively, had an indication for pneumococcal vaccination due to immunosuppressive treatment. The pneumococcal vaccination rate was 14.4% and 10.2% in PsO and AD patients, respectively. The vaccination rate depended significantly on age, working status and presence of psoriatic arthritis. The most common reason for nonvaccination was lacking recommendation by physicians. Higher awareness, particularly for vaccination indication due to immunosuppression among dermatologists, general physicians, and patients, is warranted.

Impact of COVID-19 on Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccination of Psoriatic Patients in Germany: Results from Vac-Pso

“…Moreover, vaccination intentions and real-life vaccinations of COVID-19 vaccination might differ, and we did not collect data on actual COVID-19 vaccination at a later point of time. Another limitation of the study is that patients in this follow-up period were only asked about the presence of a pneumococcal vaccination, while further details regarding the specific type of vaccine received were only collected at the baseline visit, as described in [ 16 ].…”

“…The inclusion criteria have been described previously [ 15 , 16 ]. Briefly, they included adult patients with a dermatologist-diagnosed PsO.…”

“…Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigated the influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates of PsO patients and found suboptimal vaccination uptake for pneumococci and influenza [ 15 , 16 ]. As the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the public awareness of respiratory infections and their respective vaccinations, the present follow-up study aimed to investigate changes in influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates during the COVID-19 pandemic in our cohort of PsO patients.…”

Low rates of vaccination among atopic dermatitis, alopecia areata, psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis patients on biologics

“…Previous studies investigating vaccination compliance in biologic and JAK inhibitor-prescribed patients tend to focus on one speci c type of vaccination or disease, have small sample sizes, or lack discussion on Hepatitis B vaccination [5,6]. Herein, we create a comprehensive report detailing the rates of vaccination against several diseases among patients on biologics/JAK inhibitors diagnosed with either AD, PSO, PsA, or AA at a large tertiary academic center, and detail rates of HBV vaccination in high-risk patients.…”