Vaccinating adults at risk for pneumococcal disease in the hospital setting: a pilot study

Worldwide, Streptococcus Pneumoniae is responsible for a considerable burden of illness especially in elderly and in people affected by chronic diseases. Vaccination reduces the burden of disease and two vaccines are currently available: a polysaccharide (PPV23) and a conjugate one (PCV13). Notwithstanding national recommendations to vaccinate people at risk, reaching them is not easy, especially in adulthood. For this reason a project was launched in Italy with an unrestricted grant of Pfizer in order to catch people at risk in the hospital setting. Description of the problem Vaccination of adults at risk is a relevant challenge for Public Health. The primary goal of this study is to estimate the prevalence of people at risk for pneumococcal diseases who have access to the hospital and are not vaccinated and to offer them the opportunity to be vaccinated in the hospital. For this purpose, all patients 50 years old or older who are admitted to the Department of Medical Sciences of the Teaching Hospital ‘A. Gemelli’ are interviewed through a questionnaire in order to identify eligibility to vaccination and, in that case, offer them PCV13. Results The project is ongoing but, at the present, it is showing that the prevalence of people at risk for pneumococcal diseases admitted to the hospital is very high and that the most of them did not receive any recommendation to be vaccinated. Beyond providing epidemiological data, the project is expected to increase the awareness of the need of vaccination, to provide eligible people with the vaccine and to support decision making in the identification of new strategies for setting up vaccination programs. Lessons Pneumococcal vaccination has been already proved to reduce the incidence of pneumococcal diseases and to be costeffective. This project will contribute to increase the knowledge of the current status of pneumococcal vaccination and its awareness and to disclose possible ways to increase vaccination coverage. Key messages People who are at high risk for pneumococcal diseases often do not receive recommendation to be vaccinated and may be easily observed in the hospital Capturing adults at risk for pneumococcal disease in the hospital setting may represent an effective strategy to increase the vaccination coverage and to offer a better integrated healthcare