The University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) announced a new recommendation that patients with rheumatic diseases, who are more susceptible to infections as a result of immunosuppressant medications, should receive a pneumococcal vaccine protecting against pneumonia, meningitis, and other bacterial infections. The recommendation comes after reports of low vaccination uptake. In 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that only about a quarter of adults aged 64 years and under had received at least one dose of the pneumococcal vaccine—a figure that drives concerns for a vulnerable population at risk of experiencing severe symptoms and hospitalization. Already, the university’s West Campus Rheumatology–Internal Medicine Subspecialties Clinic has begun administering the vaccines during patients’ regular check-ins to boost accessibility. In a subsequent study to test the effectiveness of the effort, a new study published by Joerns et al in The Journal of Rheumatology discovered that after offering the vaccines at clinic check-ins, the rate of patients with rheumatic diseases who were unvaccinated fell from 68.2% to 40.5%. Additionally, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recently recommended that clinicians offer patients the new, one-dose pneumococcal vaccine instead of the previous three-dose vaccine—a decision the committee expected will boost overall vaccination.
May 25, 2023