FRIDAY, March 10 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who are under the age of 65 and have severe airflow obstruction are less likely to develop community-acquired pneumonia if immunized with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV), according to a study published in the March issue of Thorax.
Immaculada Alfageme, M.D., of Valme University Hospital in Seville, Spain, and colleagues conducted a randomized, controlled trial of 596 COPD patients with a mean age of 65.8 years, of whom 298 were vaccinated with PPV. They were followed up for a mean of 979 days for radiologically proven community-acquired pneumonia of unknown etiology.
During the study period, there were 58 episodes of community-acquired pneumonia of unknown etiology, of which 25 were in the vaccinated group and 33 were in the control group. The PPV had a 24 percent efficacy in all patients, but had 76 percent efficacy in the sub-group aged below 65 years. Efficacy was 48 percent for those with a forced expiratory volume of less than 40 percent in one second. The vaccine had 91 percent efficacy in younger patients with severe obstructed airflow.
"PPV should be given to patients with COPD [younger than] 65 years, especially if they have severe airflow obstruction. This vaccination could prevent episodes of pneumococcal pneumonia frequently labeled as 'pneumonia of unknown etiology,'" the authors conclude.
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