Pneumococcal vaccines are one of the main preventive tools against severe respiratory infections in older adults and vulnerable populations. However, until recently, few studies had evaluated their effectiveness at a population level. The EPIVAC group at IDIAPJGol has published in BMC Infectious Diseases a study that analyses this impact using real-world data collected before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study, led by researcher Cinta de Diego, a family physician at Primary Care Centre Salou and researcher at IDIAPJGol, assessed the clinical effectiveness of two vaccines commonly used up to that point: the 13-valent conjugate vaccine (PCV13) and the 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine (PPsV23).
The study included 2,234,003 people aged 50 or older who had been treated in primary care centres of the Catalan Health Institute across Catalonia between 1 January and 31 December 2019. Using data from the Information System for Research Development in Primary Care (SIDIAP) and hospital records, the researchers analysed hospitalisations due to pneumonia and associated deaths, considering factors such as age, chronic diseases, and immune status.
No significant reduction
The results show that, during that period, neither of the two vaccines demonstrated a significant reduction in the risk of hospitalisation or death from pneumonia. Most of the vaccinated individuals were those with pre-existing conditions or risk factors, which may have influenced the findings.
The authors note that the results should be interpreted with caution because, on one hand, the study is observational, and on the other, the vaccines include only a limited number of serotypes responsible for pneumococcal pneumonia and are primarily designed to prevent invasive pneumococcal disease, a more severe but less common form than typical pneumonia.
New project to evaluate the effectiveness of the latest vaccines
Even so, the study provided an objective, data-driven evaluation of the impact of these vaccines in real-world clinical practice, prior to the introduction of the newer broad-spectrum conjugate formulations (PCV15, PCV20, and PCV21), which are now used in adults. Since 2024, the adult population has begun receiving the new PCV20 vaccine, and the EPIVAC group has launched a new project to assess its effectiveness in Catalonia.
The study was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, IDIAPJGol, and the Fundació Hospital Joan XXIII de Tarragona. It also received funding from the Industrial Doctorates Programme of the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) of the Government of Catalonia.
This research provides valuable information to evaluate and update adult vaccination strategies in Catalonia and underscores the importance of assessing the effectiveness of public health interventions using local healthcare data.
Article reference
de Diego-Cabanes C, Torras-Vives V, Vila-Córcoles A, Satué-Gracia EM, Forcadell-Peris MJ, Gómez-Bertomeu F, de Esteban-Júlvez L, Hospital-Guardiola I, Fuentes-Bellido CM, Ribes-Alcover A, Rodriguez-Casado C, Ochoa-Gondar O. Real world effectiveness of antipneumococcal vaccination against pneumonia in adults: a population-based cohort study, Catalonia, 2019. BMC Infect Dis. 2025 Oct 21;25(1):1369. doi: 10.1186/s12879-025-11596-w. PMID: 41120971; PMCID: PMC12538845.
