Flu and Pneumococcal Vaccine Coverage in Scleroderma Patients Still Need to Be Prompted: A Systematic Review

Systemic sclerosis (scleroderma, SSc) is an autoimmune connective tissue disease characterized by excessive production of collagen and multiorgan involvement. Scleroderma patients are at increased risk of influenza complications and pneumonia; thus, vaccinations are recommended. This systematic review evaluated the influenza and pneumococcus vaccination coverage for SSc patients. We included all studies from Pubmed reporting on influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rate in Scleroderma patients up to May 2021. The 14 studies thus selected identified a suboptimal vaccination rate in autoimmune and SSc patients, ranging from 28 to 59% for the flu vaccine, and from 11 to 58% for the pneumo vaccine in absence of specific vaccination campaigns, variously considering also other variables such as age, gender, vaccination settings, and possible vaccination campaigns. We also considered the reasons for low coverage and the approaches that might increase the vaccination rates. A lack of knowledge about the importance of vaccination in these patients and their doctors underlined the need to increase the awareness for vaccination in this patients’ category. Current guidelines recommend vaccination in elderly people and people affected by particular conditions that widely overlap with SSc, yet autoimmune diseases are not always clearly mentioned. Improving this suboptimal vaccination rate with clear guidelines is crucial for SSc patients and for clinicians to immunize these categories based principally on the pathology, prior to the age. Recommendations by the immunologist and the direct link to the vaccine providers can highly improve the vaccine coverage

Will vaccine hesitancy compromise our efforts to face the next SARS-CoV-2 epidemic wave?

We have checked the vaccination history of 389 elderly patients (62.9% males, mean age of 78.5 + 8.4 years) hospitalized for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pneumonia. Information regarding pneumococcal vaccination was available for 354 patients (91.0%): the overall vaccination coverage rate (VCR) was 19.8% (70/354), 11.3% received only 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13), 3.4% were immunized with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23), 5.1% received both vaccines. VCR among the elderly population in Liguria Region was 26.2% (118,581/453,082), among them 13.7% received PCV13, 12.4% were immunized with at least one dose of PPSV23. Regarding the 2019–2020 influenza season vaccination data were available for 46 patients: 59% of them were immunized. VCR in the elderly population was 51.7% (234,153/453,082)

Vaccinations in patients with multiple sclerosis: a real-world, single-center experience

Vaccines prevent infections in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Though recommendations regarding vaccinating patients with MS have been recently published, real-world data regarding vaccines’ planning in patients receiving disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) for MS are missing. Our aim was, therefore, to describe vaccination coverage rates, timing-proposal and safety in real-life vaccinating patients with MS undergoing DMDs before the start of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination campaign. Patients followed at our MS-center were referred to individualized immunization-programs customized to Italian recommendations, patients’ risks, immunity to exanthematic diseases, ongoing DMDs, or therapy-start urgency. Disease-activity stated the need for an essential immunization-cycle, whose core was composed by four vaccines: meningococcal-B, pneumococcal conjugated, Haemophilus influenzae B, and meningococcal-ACWY vaccines. Vaccines were administered prior to the planned DMD-start when possible, inactivated-vaccines >2 weeks and live-vaccines >4 weeks before treatment-start. Patients received a 6-months clinical-/radiological-follow-up after immunization. One-hundred and ninety-five patients were vaccinated between April 2017 and January 2021. 124/195 (63.6%) started a vaccination-program before therapy-start/-switch and 108/124 (87.1%) effectively completed immunization before new therapy-start without any delay. The time needed for immunization-conclusion reached a median of 27 (confidence interval 22) days in 2020. No increase in clinical-/radiological-activity 3-/6-months after immunization was noted. In conclusion, our study confirmed feasibility and safety of a vaccination-protocol in patients with MS whose duration resulted in a median of 27 days

Systemic sclerosis and vaccinations: a three-year register-based cohort study about vaccination rate and uptake from Liguria referral center, northwest Italy

Patients with diffused Systemic Sclerosis (dSSc) are more subject to severe respiratory complications with higher rates of intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Vaccination represents the most effective means of prevention and care for frail patients, such as SSc patients, preventing infections, reducing mortality and morbidity, and granting a better quality of life. Both vaccinations against seasonal influenza and Streptococcus pneumoniae are currently recommended by the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) guidelines on vaccination. The aim of this study is to give an updated analysis on S. pneumoniae and seasonal influenza vaccination coverage in a cohort of 91 patients with SSc and to investigate demographic and clinical variables significantly related to vaccine acceptance. The correlation between vaccine administration and other factors was investigated using a binomial logistic regression to evaluate the adjusted odds ratio (aOR). The patients followed up in this study reached higher percentages than the general population, passing the 75% target for both influenza and anti-pneumococcal vaccinations and reaching for influenza vaccine coverage rates of 83.8% for subjects undergoing immunosuppressive therapies and 88.9% for elderly subjects. For the latter group, it is important to emphasize the strong correlation between older age groups and vaccination acceptance

Current Take on Systemic Sclerosis Patients' Vaccination Recommendations

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic disease. The prevalence of SSc ranges from 7 to 700 cases per million worldwide. Due to multiple organ involvement and constant inflammatory state, this group of patients presents an increased risk of infectious diseases. This paper aimed to gather the up-to-date evidence on vaccination strategies for patients with SSc and to be a useful tool for the prevention and management of infectious diseases. The authors conducted a scoping review in which each paragraph presents data on a specific vaccine's safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy. The work deals with the following topics: SARS-CoV-2, seasonal influenza, S. pneumoniae, HAV, HBV, HZV, N. meningitidis, H. influenzae, HPV, and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis