Reevaluating pneumococcal vaccine guidance: An analysis

If mitigating racial disparities in those who contract pneumococcal diseases, such as meningitis and pneumonia, is a top public health priority, then recommending that all adults get a pneumococcal vaccine at age 50 would likely be effective guidance, according to a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine analysis published today in the journal. However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not make race-based vaccination recommendations, and, unless lowering the age for universal vaccination prompts double-digit increases in vaccination rates or the vaccine protects against more types of pneumonia than it has been proven to, it isn’t going to be cost-effective to change the current recommendation, the researchers found. “It’s a nuanced issue, but nuanced vaccine recommendations typically don’t result in high immunization rates,” said senior author Kenneth J. Smith, M.D., M.S., professor of medicine and clinical and translational science in Pitt’s Division of General Internal Medicine. “Since there isn’t...