Invasive Pneumococcal Disease Surveillance, 1 January to 31 March 2018

Abstract

The number of notified cases of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in the first quarter of 2018 was substantially less than the previous quarter, and similar to the first quarter of 2017. Following the July 2011 replacement of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (7vPCV) in the childhood immunisation program with the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (13vPCV), there was an initial relatively rapid decline in disease due to the additional six serotypes covered by 13vPCV across all age groups; however, more recently this decline is no longer evident. Further, over this period there has been a steady increase across all age groups (Figure 1) in the number of cases due to the eleven serotypes additionally covered by the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (23vPPV) and also to those serotypes not covered by any available vaccine.