Pneumococcus

WASHINGTON — Delaying methotrexate initiation for 1 month after pneumococcal vaccination improves humoral response in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to data presented at ACR Convergence 2024.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices unanimously voted to recommend respiratory syncytial virus vaccinations for all adults aged 75 years and older, as well as those aged 60 to 74 years at high risk for severe disease.

More than half of patients aged 65 years or older at a health system in Nebraska were undervaccinated for pneumococcus based on CDC recommendations, according to newly presented data.

Real-world data demonstrated that two pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, PCV7 and PCV13, protected against complex ear infection in young children, according to study results published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The FDA has accepted Merck’s 15-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for priority review, the company announced.

Adult vaccination coverage and compliance varies substantially by state, even with adjustments for individual state-characteristics, according to study results presented at IDWeek.

Pfizer’s 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine induced robust immune responses that were comparable to other vaccines currently on the market, according to results from a phase 3, randomized, double-blind trial.

Merck’s investigational V114 pneumococcal conjugate vaccine — which includes 15 serotypes — is noninferior to the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine currently on the market for adults, the company announced in a press release.

Herd immunity generated by the introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the United States — first in 2010 for children, then in 2012 for immunocompromised adults, in series with the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine — has driven down the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease, or IPD, in adults with and without underlying medical conditions, researchers reported.