Photo Credit: Roman Didkivskyi

The following is a summary of “Evaluating Sex Differences in Pneumococcal Disease Burden and Vaccination Effectiveness in Adults: A Population-Based Study,” published in the December 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Forcadell-Peris et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to compare the clinical effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccination between male and female adults.  

They included a population of 11,08,634 women and 9,51,011 men aged 50 years or older in Catalonia, Spain. Baseline characteristics, such as comorbidities/underlying conditions and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPsV23) or pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) vaccination status, were determined using the Institutional Research Database (SIDIAP). Pneumococcal disease-related hospitalizations (PDRH) were identified through hospital discharge codes from 6 8 reference hospitals in Catalonia, covering the period from 01/01/2017 to 31/12/2018. Cox regression models were applied to estimate the effectiveness of PPsV23/PCV13 against PDRH by sex, adjusting for age and comorbidities/underlying risk conditions.  

The results showed 4,302 PDRH were observed during the 2-year follow-up, with 1,878 women and 2,424 men affected. Incidences were 169.4/100,000 for women and 254.9/100,000 for men. In women, neither PPsV23 [HR] 1.04; 95% [CI] 0.92–1.18; P = 0.540) nor PCV13 (HR 1.24; 95% CI 0.91–1.70; P = 0.171) reduced PDRH risk. In men, PCV13 was linked to a significantly higher PDRH risk (HR 1.57; 95% CI 1.07–2.31; P = 0.021), while PPsV23 did not alter the risk (HR 0.89; 95% CI 0.72–1.10; P = 0.275). No reduction in PDRH-related mortality was seen in vaccinated women or men. However, PPsV23 showed a slight decrease in all-cause death risk for women (HR 0.94; 95% CI 0.92–0.97; P < 0.001).  

Investigators concluded that neither PPsV23 nor PCV13 vaccinations demonstrated effectiveness in preventing PDRH in sex, while PPsV23 may be associated with a slight reduction in all-cause mortality risk in women, potentially indicating a sex-specific benefit. 

Source: academic.oup.com/jid/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/infdis/jiae624/7925159