Pneumococcal colonization and severity of pneumonia in hospitalized Cambodian children following introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine

Invasive Pneumococcal Disease After 2 Decades of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Use

OBJECTIVES

We sought to describe the evolving epidemiology of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) among children in Massachusetts, United States, over the last 2 decades during which sequential 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV7) and 13-valent PCVs (PCV13) were implemented.

METHODS

Cases of IPD in children aged <18 years were detected between 2002 and 2021 through an enhanced population-based, statewide surveillance system. Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from normally sterile sites were serotyped and evaluated for antimicrobial susceptibility. IPD incidence rates and rate ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.

RESULTS

We identified 1347 IPD cases. Incidence of IPD in children aged <18 years declined 72% over 2 decades between 2002 and 2021 (incidence rate ratios 0.28, 95% CI 0.18-0.45). IPD rates continued to decline after replacement of PCV7 with PCV13 (incidence rate ratios 0.25, 95% CI 0.16-0.39, late PCV7 era [2010] versus late PCV13 era [2021]). During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic years, 2020 to 2021, the rate of IPD among children aged <18 years reached 1.6 per 100 000, the lowest incidence observed over the 20 years. In PCV13 era, approximately one-third of the IPD cases in children aged >5 years had at least 1 underlying condition (98, 30.3%). Serotypes 19A and 7F contributed 342 (48.9%) of all cases before implementation of PCV13 (2002-2010). Serotype 3 (31, 8.6%), and non-PCV13 serotypes 15B/C (39, 10.8%), 33F (29, 8.0%), 23B (21, 0.8%), and 35B (17, 4.7%) were responsible for 37.8% of cases in PCV13 era (2011-2021). Penicillin nonsusceptibility continued to decline (9.8% vs 5.3% in pre-/late PCV13 era, P = .003), however has become more common among non-PCV13 serotypes compared with vaccine serotypes (14.8% vs 1.4%, P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Robust ongoing surveillance networks are critical for identifying emerging serotypes and development of next-generation vaccine formulations.