Rates of Vaccination against Streptococcus Pneumoniae in Cochlear Implant Patients

Abstract

BackgroundStreptococcus pneumoniae can cause life-threatening illness, with invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPD) like meningitis, sepsis, bacteremic pneumonia, and bacteremia being major causes of morbidity and mortality. Studies have shown that patients who have had a cochlear implant, particularly children, have an increased risk of bacterial (pneumococcal) meningitis. Vaccination in patients with cochlear implants is important and recommended universally. The World Health Organization recommends the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in all countries and considers their use to be a priority in all national immunization programs. The objective of this study was to assess rates of vaccination against Streptococcus pneumoniae in patients with cochlear implants who were implanted at the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Poland.Material/MethodsWe analyzed data from questionnaires administered to 2,628 patients who visited the Implants and Auditory Perception Department (IAPD) of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing between January 2014 and March 2016.ResultsThe percentage of vaccinated patients in the study group was 28.2%, most of whom (90.7%) were children. Among the children, 49.3% were vaccinated against S. pneumoniae, but the corresponding rate for adults was only 5.5%.ConclusionsThe percentage of patients with cochlear implants who received vaccination against S. pneumoniae was low, both in children and adults, but especially in adults comparing to available reports.

Infectious complications and optimising infection prevention for children with cochlear implants

“…This is considerably lower than the state and national standard immunisation schedule uptake average of >91% 12 . However, it is consistent with medically at‐risk paediatric pneumococcal vaccine coverage reported at 3–9% nationally, 13 and other international adult and paediatric CI cohorts in Poland (28%) 14 and America (20%) 15 . Locally, educational letters and immunisation plans for children scheduled for or who had received CI were effective in improving immunisation rates (Tay SM, unpublished data), suggesting improved parent and provider awareness were key factors influencing optimal infection prevention.…”

Vaccination rates in cochlear implant patients: a review of paediatric recipients

“…Piotrowska et al observed a 49.2 per cent streptococcal pneumonia vaccination rate despite the vaccine being mandatory and publicly funded for cochlear implant patients in Poland. 16 A recent Spanish study showed that only 5.71 per cent of the cochlear implant patients had 100 per cent compliance to their vaccination schedule. Their paediatric population had pneumococcal conjugate and H influenzae B vaccine compliance rates of more than 90 per cent.…”

Pnömokok Aşılı Koklear İmplantlı Hastada Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotip 24B’ye Bağlı Menenjit

“…Pnömokok enfeksiyonları açısından risk faktörüne sahip bireylere 23 serotip içeren polisakkarit aşı da önerilmektedir. Ancak koklear implant yapılmış 2628 çocuk ve erişkin hastanın incelendiği bir çalışmada pnömokok aşısı yapılma oranının çocuklarda %49.2, erişkinlerde ise sadece %5.5 olduğu görülmüştür 10 . Koklear implant yapılmış toplam 1222 hastada üç menenjit olgusunun görüldüğü çalışmada pnömokok aşılama durumu ile menenjit gelişimi arasında ilişki bulunmamıştır 6 .…”