Vaccination for Nayul in June! I searched about pneumococcus in advance to find out what vaccination is for. I looked it up with a light heart to see what it prevents... But there were two types of vaccinations for this too 😱 (to be precise, there were three types, but I'll explain the details below). I found out that there were also two types of vaccinations included in the National Vaccination Support Program... haha. When I simply looked up vaccinations, I didn't know about such details... Somehow, I feel like I chose another not-so-easy topic today 😅.
Pneumococcus
First of all, pneumococcus is one of the major pathogens that cause invasive infections such as acute otitis media, pneumonia, septicemia, and meningitis. Invasive infections caused by pneumococcus occur frequently in infants, young children, and adults over 65 years old. It often occurs in the common respiratory illnesses in winter and early spring, and is transmitted between people through direct contact with respiratory droplets.
👉 Non-invasive infections: sinusitis, otitis media, pneumonia, etc.
👉 Invasive infections: meningitis, septicemia, etc.
Children and adolescents aged 2 and older, as well as adults and elderly people aged 65 and older, can receive the polysaccharide vaccine (23-valent). After vaccination, antibodies are formed in over 80% of healthy adults after 2-3 weeks, and the preventive effect against invasive pneumococcal infections is about 50-80%.
In Nayul's case, she should receive the conjugate vaccine (10-valent or 13-valent) instead of the polysaccharide vaccine (23-valent). Today, I will focus on the conjugate vaccine! If there was only one type of vaccine for prevention, I would have just looked at the ingredients and side effects and finished, but since they support two types of vaccines, I need to understand the pros and cons of each vaccine and go through the decision-making process for Nayul once again.
Conjugate Vaccines
The pneumococcal vaccine that Nayul will receive comes in two types: 10-valent and 13-valent. Since 2014, it has been included in the National Vaccination Support Program, so you can receive full support for vaccination costs. The 10-valent is Synflorix, and the 13-valent is Prevenar 13. For detailed information about the drugs, it would be good to refer to the links.
I summarized the main differences in a table. There was no difference in the number of vaccinations like Rotarix and Rotateq. However, there was a difference in the number of serotypes between the two drugs. I marked the serotypes that differ in red. In Korea, common serotypes related to pneumococcus are 19F, 23F, 19A, 6B, etc., and since Prevenar 13 contains these serotypes, I think it would be better to receive Prevenar 13.
Check detailed serotype information
[ Synflorix ]
👉 Serotypes 1, 5, 6B, 7F, 9V, 14, 23F: 1μg each
👉 Serotypes 4, 18C, 19F: 3μg each
👉 NTHi protein D: 9-16μg
👉 Tetanus toxoid: 5-10μg
👉 Diphtheria toxoid: 3-6μg
[ Prevenar 13 ]
👉 Serotypes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6A, 7F, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, 19F, 23F: 2.2μg each
👉 Serotype 6B: 4.4μg
👉 CRM197 protein: 32μg
Although this data is from 2007, I couldn't confirm additional government data on serotypes since then, so looking at this data briefly, it is confirmed that among the invasive strains, serotype 19F had the highest incidence with 9 strains (15.3%), followed by 19A with 8 strains (13.6%), and serotypes 3 and 1, which belong to non-vaccine serotypes, were separated by 6 strains (10.2%) each. Based on this information, I think it would be better to receive the Prevenar 13 vaccine, which contains serotypes 3 and 19A.
For pneumococcal vaccination, it seems best to receive the Prevenar 13 vaccine, which is the 13-valent one. Unlike the considerable time it took to decide between Rotarix and Rotateq, in 2021, due to the supply shortage of GSK's vaccine, there was a period when cross-vaccination was allowed, but now that the supply is smooth, it is not recommended to cross-vaccinate if possible. Therefore, for pneumococcal vaccination, which requires up to 4 doses, let's be careful to remember which vaccine we received and avoid cross-vaccination. To make a vaccination appointment, check if vaccination support is available in your area on 'Vaccination Helper' just like before, and make a separate reservation by phone.
Study on May 27, 2023