Changes in S. pneumoniae carriage rates and its serotype composition structure in the institutionalized preschool children due to pneumococcal vaccination

Introduction. Streptococcus pneumoniae infections remain one of the global public health concerns. The most vulnerable groups for pneumococcal infections include children in their first 5 years of life, as well as adults aged >60 years and patients with various severe chronic diseases and immunodeficiency disorders.

Aim. To study changes in S. pneumoniae carriage rates and its serotype composition structure due to pneumococcal vaccination of children attending preschool educational institutions (institutionalized children).

Materials and methods. We studied the trends of changes in S. pneumoniae carriage rates and its serotype landscape structure due to PCV13 vaccination in 1 350 institutionalized children aged 1 to 5 years 11 months and 29 days (the mean age was 4.43 ± 0.31 years). A total of 510 children were included in the study in 2016–2018 and 840 children in 2020–2022. The work was carried out within the framework of the international prospective multicenter study SAPIENS (Scientific Assessment of Pneumococcal Infection Epidemiology Networks) in the city of Khanty-Mansiysk.

Results and discussion. The overall S. pneumoniae carriage rates were found to be reduced from 55.9% to 34.2% (р < 0.05). The reduction in pneumococcal carriage rates was observed in all age groups: in children aged 1–2 years old – from 64.3% to 51.0%; 3 years – from 63.6% to 37.6%? 4 years – from 58.3% to 35.0%; 5 years – from 47.1% to 28.4% (before and after vaccination respectively). Thus, the importance of monitoring S. pneumoniae carriage rates with the necessary determination of its serotype structure for the timely replacement of the vaccine is discussed. We presented the literature data on the safety and immunological efficacy of the 20-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate adsorbed vaccine, which contains capsular polysaccharides (CPSs) in addition to the CPSs of the pneumococcal serotypes that were included in PCV13.

Conclusions. Pneumococcal vaccination within the national vaccination schedule has significantly (1.6 times (р < 0.05)) reduced the S. pneumoniae carriage rates in the institutionalized preschool children.

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