Characteristics of children with invasive pneumococcal disease eligible for the 1+1 compared with the 2+1 PCV13 infant immunisation schedule in England: a prospective national observational surveillance study

Background

On Jan 1, 2020, the UK transitioned from a 2+1 to a 1+1 national infant immunisation schedule with the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13). We assessed whether the 1+1 PCV13 schedule had any impact on incidence, disease characteristics, or outcomes after invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in eligible children aged 0–3 years.

Methods

The UK Health Security Agency conducts IPD surveillance and serotyping of invasive pneumococcal isolates via whole-genome sequencing in England. IPD was defined as identification of Streptococcus pneumoniae in a sterile site. We compared IPD incidence, demographics, clinical presentation, comorbidity prevalence, serotype distribution, and case-fatality rates (CFRs) in children from a single birth cohort eligible for the 1+1 schedule (born between Jan 1, 2020, and Dec 31, 2022) who developed IPD in the 2022–23 financial year (April to March) with children from three equivalent historical birth cohorts (born between Jan 1, 2015, and Dec 31, 2019) eligible for the 2+1 schedule who developed IPD during three respective pre-pandemic financial years: 2017–18, 2018–19, and 2019–20.

Findings

There were a total of 702 IPD episodes in 697 children, including 158 (incidence 8·99 per 100 000 person-years) in the single 1+1 birth cohort and 544 (incidence 9·39 per 100 000 person-years) in the 2+1 birth cohorts, with no significant difference in the incidence of overall IPD (incidence rate ratio 0·96, 95% CI 0·80–1·14, p=0·63), PCV13-type IPD (1·21, 0·71–2·00, p=0·45), or pneumococcal meningitis (0·97, 0·66–1·40, p=0·88). Comorbidity prevalence, clinical presentation, and CFRs were also similar between the two cohorts, as was the percentage of cases in infants too young to be vaccinated (<2 months old) and infants aged 5–11 months who received one or two PCV13 priming doses, in the 1+1 and 2+1 cohorts respectively.

Interpretation

After 3 years, the 1+1 schedule continues to provide direct and indirect protection against PCV13-type IPD in children, with no significant change in overall IPD incidence, serotype distribution, clinical presentation, or CFRs in children eligible for the 1+1 compared with the 2+1 schedule. Ongoing surveillance will be important to assess longer-term direct and indirect population protection.

Funding

None.