Pneumococcal vaccine reduces risk of death from pneumonia in patients with chronic diseases

Vaccination against pneumococcal infection is the most effective way to protect people with chronic medical conditions from the serious consequences pneumonia has. Studies show that vaccination reduces the all-cause mortality rate by 30% in people over 65 years of age[1]. Specialists presented these data at the Russia Prevent 2024: Cardiology conference, supported by the Russian Society for Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases and the National Medical Research Centre for Therapy and Preventive Medicine of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.

“A 200-fold decrease in the incidence of influenza in the Russian Federation from 1997 to 2022 driven by mass vaccination and a lower incidence of cardiovascular complications is a proof of how effective vaccines are,”
said Oksana Mikhailovna Drapkina, Director of the National Medical Research Centre for Therapy and Preventive Medicine of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chief External Specialist for Therapy and General Medical Practice. She emphasized the importance of a combined vaccination against influenza and pneumococcal infections.

Pneumococcus is the third leading cause of infectious diseases worldwide and[2] is responsible for up to 70% of community-acquired pneumonia cases requiring hospitalization.[3]. Pneumonia claimed more than 650,000 human lives worldwide in 2019[4].

Almost every third patient over 65 years of age[5],[6] and every 5th one with chronic cardiovascular diseases dies from pneumococcal pneumonia[7]. As their age increases, patients over 60 years old have a 20-30% higher risk of a fatal outcome from pneumonia, which reaches 50% for those over 85 years of age[8]. Over the past 30 years, half of pneumonia deaths have occurred in patients over the age of 70[9].

“Pneumonia, caused by pneumococcus in nearly 70% of cases, induces heart failure (HF). At the same time, patients with pre-existing HF have a higher chance of being exposed to cardiovascular complications and death from cardiovascular causes as pneumonia factors in. The risk of HF progression remains high for at least five years after the infection, and one in five patients with HF hospitalized with pneumonia dies within 30 days,”
emphasized Igor Vladimirovich Fomin, M.D., PhD, Professor, Head of the Department of Hospital Therapy and General Medical Practice, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education Privolzhsky Research Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.

Concomitant chronic diseases exacerbate the infectious process: the risk of pneumococcal infection is three times higher for those with diabetes mellitus, four times greater in case of cardiovascular diseases and nine times bigger for patients with chronic lung diseases[10].

“The aging population is confronted with several chronic diseases: heart failure, type 2 diabetes and cognitive dysfunction. All these conditions become even worse when patients contract pneumococcal infection, making the disease a real threat to life,”
said Olga Nikolaevna Tkacheva, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, M.D., PhD, Professor, Chief External Geriatrician of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.

Immunization is the most effective and safest way to protect the population against the effects of acute respiratory diseases caused by pneumococcal infection, especially in the elderly.

Eighteen studies involving 716,000 patients show that vaccination reduces the all-cause mortality by 30% in people aged 65 and older[11].

A 10-year analysis exploring the efficacy of pneumococcal vaccination[12] in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) showed that survival was 20% higher in the group immunized with the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine Prevenar® 13 than in the unvaccinated group (47% vs. 27%, respectively). Vaccination has been shown to reduce mortality by 3.8 times by lowering inflammation in the respiratory tract. The incidence of pneumonia in patients with COPD was 6.2 times lower, and the frequency of COPD[13] exacerbations decreased 3-fold.

“Vaccination is an effective way to protect people against pneumococcal infection, reducing both the risk of getting the disease itself and the risk of adverse outcomes. Vaccination can prevent the infection and premature aging and extend the quality of life for the elderly,”
Olga Nikolaevna Tkacheva points out.

Partnered with Pfizer, the biopharmaceutical company Petrovax uses its full-cycle manufacturing capacities to produce Prevenar® 13 in the finished dosage form in the Moscow Region of Russia.


1 The protective effect of pneumococcal vaccination on cardiovascular disease in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis F. Marra, A. Zhang, E. Gillman, K. Bessai, K. Parhar, N.K.Vadlamudi International Journal of Infectious Diseases V. 99 Pages 204-213 (October 2020) DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.07.038

2 GBD 2019 Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators. Lancet 2022

3 Nikolay Ivanovich Briko, Vladimir Andreyevich Korshunov, Kirill Sergeyevich Lomonosov PNEUMOCOCCAL DISEASE IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION: STATE OF THE PROBLEM // Annals of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (RAMS). 2021. No. 1.

4 Global mortality associated with 33 bacterial pathogens in 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet. 21 November 2022.

5 Т.V. Barakhovskaya, A.V. Shcherbakova. Pneumonias: A Manual for Physicians - Irkutsk: 2017. – 80 p.

6 Nikolay Ivanovich Briko, Vladimir Andreyevich Korshunov, Kirill Sergeyevich Lomonosov PNEUMOCOCCAL DISEASE IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION: STATE OF THE PROBLEM // Annals of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (RAMS). 2021. No. 1.

7 JAMA. 2020;323(19):1969-1971. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.6173

8 According to the statistical materials of the Russian Research Institute of Health, Medical and Demographic Indicators of the Russian Federation.

9 https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/pneumonia-and-lower-respiratory-diseases-deaths

10 Shea KM, Edelsberg J, Weycker D, Farkouh RA, Strutton DR, Pelton SI. Rates of pneumococcal disease in adults with chronic medical conditions. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2014 May 27;1(1):ofu024. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofu024. PMID: 25734097; PMCID: PMC4324183.

11 The protective effect of pneumococcal vaccination on cardiovascular disease in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis F. Marra, A. Zhang, E. Gillman, K. Bessai, K. Parhar, N.K.Vadlamudi International Journal of Infectious Diseases V. 99 Pages 204-213 (October 2020) DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.07.038

12 G. L. Ignatova, S. N. Avdeev, V. N. Antonov, E. V. Blinova. Ten-year analysis of the efficacy of vaccination against pneumococcal infection in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Pulmonology. 2023; 33 (6): 750-758. DOI:10.18093/0869-0189-2023-33-6-750-758

13 Report by V.N. Antonov at the National Congress with International Participation 21st Century Pulmonology, Moscow, June 20-21, 2024.
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