Pneumococcal vaccines for sickle cell disease

People with sickle cell disease are particularly prone to pneumococcal infection, which may be fatal. Children aged up to 23 months are at high risk, but usual polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccines may not work in this age group. New conjugate pneumococcal vaccines may help to reduce the rate of infection in people with sickle cell disease of all ages. We searched for trials which compared a polysaccharide or conjugate pneumococcal vaccine schedule with a different schedule or no vaccination in people with sickle cell disease. The review includes five trials with a total of 547 participants. One trial showed that the polysaccharide vaccine did not reduce the risk of infection very much in children younger than three years old, but it was linked with only minor adverse events. Three trials of conjugate vaccines showed increased antibody responses compared to control groups in people of all ages, although clinical outcomes were not measured in these trials. This review did not show if the vaccines prevent infection or decrease death rates. We recommend that conjugate pneumococcal vaccines are used in people with sickle cell disease. Randomised trials will be needed to determine the best vaccination schedule when further, potentially more effective vaccines become available. Such trials should measure clinical outcomes of effectiveness.