How effective is 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) combined with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23)?

Abstract

The bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae remains a major cause
of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Currently, the 2 leading vaccines targeted against it are: 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13). It was only very recently, starting 22 November 2019, that the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices (ACIP) no longer recommends routine administration of PCV13 for all adults aged 65 and above. As such, this systematic review aims to investigate how the use of PCV13 combined with PPSV23 compares to using PPSV23 alone in older adults.

Relevant research papers were chosen through an electronic search
in PubMed. A set of selection criteria was then applied to ensure that the papers aligned with the objectives of this paper.

The majority of the studies included in this paper demonstrated that in adults aged 50 years and above, PCV13 had the ability to generate a strong immune response in adults, even more so than PPSV23 for all of the twelve serotypes common to both vaccines. The safety of PCV13 was also demonstrated in the studies as no PCV13-related serious adverse events (SAEs) had surfaced. Only one study included in this systematic review opposed the trend.
While the evidence for both PCV13’s and PPSV23’s ability to generate an immune response have been persuasive, more research that focuses on the clinical endpoint in older adults, as well as the incidence of pneumococcal infections in the population, could be done to fully address the main question of this paper.