Clinical and Economic Burden of Pneumococcal Disease Due to Serotypes Contained in Current and Investigational Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines in Children Under Five Years of Age

Introduction: The widespread implementation of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) has significantly reduced the burden of pneumococcal disease around the world. Although licensed 10-valent (PCV10) and 13-valent (PCV13) vaccines have considerably reduced mortality and morbidity, a sizeable disease burden attributable to serotypes not contained in these PCVs remains. This study aimed to estimate the annual clinical and economic burden of pneumococcal disease attributable to licensed (PCV10 and PCV13) and investigational PCVs, notably 15-valent (PCV15) and 20-valent (PCV20) vaccines, in 13 countries in children under 5 years of age. Methods: A decision-analytic model was created to aggregate total cases [inclusive of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), pneumonia, and otitis media (OM)], deaths, and direct costs in each country of interest [stratified by PCV10/PCV13 countries, depending on national immunization programs (NIPs)] over 1 year, using up to the three most recent years of available serotype coverage data. Data inputs were sourced from local databases, surveillance reports, and published literature. Results: In 5 PCV10 NIPs (Austria, Finland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden), most remaining PCV20-type disease was due to PCV13-unique serotypes (30–85%), followed by PCV20-unique (9–50%), PCV15-unique (4–15%), and PCV10-unique (2–14%) serotypes. In 8 PCV13 NIPs (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Spain, United Kingdom), most remaining PCV20-type disease was caused by PCV20-unique serotypes (16–69%), followed by PCV13-unique (11–54%), PCV15-unique (2–33%), and PCV10-unique serotypes (3–19%). Across all countries, PCV20 serotypes caused 3000 to 345,000 cases of disease and cost between $1.3 and $44.9 million USD annually with variability driven by population size, NIP status, and epidemiologic inputs. In aggregate, PCV20 serotypes caused 1,234,000 cases and $213.5 million in annual direct medical costs in children under 5 years of age. Conclusion: Despite the success of PCV10 and PCV13 in reducing pneumococcal disease, a substantial clinical and economic burden remains due to serotypes contained in investigational vaccines.