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Pfizer Pneumonia Shot Helps HIV-Infected Patients
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Abstract
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| A Pfizer vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae prevented 74 percent of re-infections in HIV patients, a new study finds. The bacteria can cause invasive pneumococcal disease, leading to often-fatal septicaemia and meningitis. HIV patients, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, have 30 to 100 times greater risk of developing IPD, noted Neil French, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and colleagues.
An existing 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine, which consists of long chains of sugar molecules isolated from pneumococcal bacteria, does not adequately prevent the infection among HIV-positive adults and is not recommended for African patients. In the study, researchers used Pfizer’s Prevnar 7 vaccine, a seven-valent conjugate vaccine that uses the sugar molecules but binds them to a “carrier” protein that amplifies the immune response.
In the double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, researchers followed 496 Malawian adolescents and adults (88 percent HIV-positive) who had recovered from documented IPD. Two doses of vaccine were administered four weeks apart. Endpoints were re-infection by vaccine serotypes or serotype 6A.
In 798 person-years of observation, French and colleagues found Prevnar 7 had an efficacy of 74 percent.
“This is the first trial to use a conjugate pneumococcal vaccine in an adult group and find clinical benefits,” said French. “Since it works in patients with HIV infection, it is likely to work in other adult groups, including the elderly and other at-risk groups.”
The full study, “A Trial of a 7-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in HIV-Infected Adults,” was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (2010;362(9):812-822).
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Subjects
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Disease Prevention
HIV Positive Persons
Opportunistic Infections
Studies or Surveys
Vaccines
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cdcnpin.org News Record #54917
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