Immunogenicity of 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Compared to the Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine in Adult Kidney and Liver Transplant Patients

Immunogenicity of Repeated Dose 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Compared to the Existing Recommended Protocol of Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine in Adult Kidney and Liver Transplant Patients

Severe Pneumococcal disease, such as bacteremia, meningitis and pneumonia, cause significant morbidity and mortality in both otherwise healthy adult population and in the immunocompromised patients. The incidence rate of invasive pneumococcal disease is considerably higher among organ transplant patients than in healthy individuals. Routine immunization with Pneumococcal vaccine is recommended pretransplant and once 3-5 years after the transplantation. The efficacy and immunogenicity of Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine(Pneumovax®) is suboptimal in this patient group. The conjugate Pneumococcal vaccine has been shown to be more immunogenic and safe in some other subgroups of immunocompromised patients. We intend to compare the immunogenicity of repeated dose 13-valent Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Prevenar13®)to the existing recommended protocol of Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (Pneumovax®) in adult kidney and liver transplant patients.

Inclusion Criteria:

• consecutive new kidney or liver transplantation in our center
• kidney or liver retransplantation in our center

Exclusion Criteria:

• Age < 18 years
• Previous Pneumococcal vaccination < 3 years ago
• Febrile illness at the time of vaccination
• Any sign of graft failure or rejection at the time of vaccination
• Splenectomy
• Pregnancy
• Critically ill patient due to any cause, including terminal uncompensated liver disease