Clinical and Epidemiologic Profile of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Australian Children Following the Relaxation of Nonpharmaceutical Interventions Against SARS-COV-2

Phoebe C M Williams; Annaleise Howard-Jones; Coen Butters; Archana Koirala; Philip N Britton; Robert Duguid; Priyali Wijeratne; Niall Johnson; Sanjay Jayasinghe

doi:10.1097/INF.0000000000003972

Clinical and Epidemiologic Profile of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Australian Children Following the Relaxation of Nonpharmaceutical Interventions Against SARS-COV-2

Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2023 Sep 1;42(9):e341-e342. doi: 10.1097/INF.0000000000003972. Epub 2023 May 18.

Authors

Phoebe C M Williams^{1

2

3

4}, Annaleise Howard-Jones^{2

4

5}, Coen Butters⁶, Archana Koirala^{1

2

3

4}, Philip N Britton^{1

2

3

4}, Robert Duguid³, Priyali Wijeratne³, Niall Johnson⁶, Sanjay Jayasinghe^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ From the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, New South Wales, Australia.
² School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
³ Department of Infectious Diseases, Sydney Children's Hospital Network, New South Wales, Australia.
⁴ Department of Clinical Microbiology, Sydney Institute of Infectious Diseases (Sydney ID), New South Wales, Australia.
⁵ New South Wales Health Pathology, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research (ICPMR), New South Wales, Australia.
⁶ Department of Paediatrics, John Hunter Children's Hospital, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.

Abstract

A global resurgence of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) has been noted in children. We provide a detailed clinical and epidemiological analysis of IPD in Australian children following relaxation of nonpharmaceutical interventions against coronavirus disease 2019, revealing significant morbidity and mortality-even in vaccinated children without known predisposing risk factors. Almost half of the IPD cases were caused by serotypes not covered by the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

MeSH terms

Australia / epidemiology
COVID-19* / complications
COVID-19* / epidemiology
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Child
Humans
Incidence
Infant
Pneumococcal Infections* / epidemiology
Pneumococcal Infections* / etiology
Pneumococcal Infections* / prevention & control
Pneumococcal Vaccines
SARS-CoV-2
Serogroup
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Vaccines, Conjugate

Substances

Pneumococcal Vaccines
Vaccines, Conjugate