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Objectives: Pneumococcal vaccination is recommended to lower the risk of posttraumatic meningitis, and early vaccination may be of importance. After both trauma and central nervous system injury, immune-suppression may occur, which could affect T-cell function and the response to T-cell dependent vaccines. We therefore aimed to investigate the response to early vaccination with a T-cell independent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV)., Methods: Thirty-three patients with basilar skull fracture and 23 patients undergoing transsphenoidal pituitary gland surgery were vaccinated with PPSV within 10days after neurotrauma or neurosurgery. Twenty-nine neurosurgical patients vaccinated ⩾3weeks after neurotrauma or neurosurgery served as controls. Serotype-specific anti-polysaccharide binding IgG antibody levels to serotypes 4, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F and 23F were determined by enzyme immunoassay., Results: The vaccination was safe and a highly significant antibody response was found against all serotypes in all groups (p<0.001 for each of the serotypes). There were no differences between groups or in the group by time interaction in any of the serotypes. After early and late vaccination, protective levels were found in >80% for serotypes 9V, 14, 18C, 19F and 23F and in 70% and 50% for serotypes 6B and 4, respectively., Conclusion: Patients vaccinated with PPSV within 10days after neurotrauma or neurosurgery respond similarly to those vaccinated after ⩾3weeks, indicating that PPSV can be administered early after neurotrauma or neurosurgery., Clinical Trials Registration: NCT02806284., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: An investigational subunit vaccine containing the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) glycoprotein E (gE) and the AS01B adjuvant system is being evaluated for the prevention of herpes zoster (HZ) in older adults. A phase II trial evaluating different formulations of this vaccine (containing 25μg, 50μg, or 100μg gE) was conducted in adults ≥60 years of age and showed that all formulations elicited robust cellular and humoral immune responses for up to 3 years after vaccination. In this follow-up study in subjects who received two doses of the 50μg gE/AS01B formulation (HZ/su), we assessed the persistence of the immune responses for up to 6 years after vaccination., Methods: This phase II, open-label, multicenter, single-group trial conducted in the Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands followed 129 subjects who had received two doses (2 months apart) of HZ/su during the initial trial. Vaccine-induced immune responses (frequencies of gE-specific CD4(+) T cells expressing ≥2 activation markers and serum anti-gE antibody concentrations) were evaluated at 48, 60, and 72 months after the first HZ/su dose., Results: Six years after vaccination with HZ/su, gE-specific cell-mediated immune responses and anti-gE antibody concentrations had decreased by 20-25% from month 36, but remained higher than the prevaccination values. At month 72, the gE-specific cell-mediated immune response was 3.8 times higher than the prevaccination value (477.3 vs. 119.4 activated gE-specific CD4(+) T cells per 10(6) cells), and the anti-gE antibody concentration was 7.3 times higher than the prevaccination value (8159.0 vs. 1121.3mIU/mL). No vaccine-related serious adverse events were reported between months 36 and 72., Conclusions: gE-specific cellular and humoral immune responses persisted for 6 years after two-dose vaccination with HZ/su in healthy older adults. No safety concerns were identified., (Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Tick-borne Encephalitis (TBE) is endemic in south-eastern Sweden as well as in the Baltic regions, Central Europe and Russia. Ageing and immunosuppressed individuals are more prone to severe disease and neurological complications. We assessed the immunogenicity of TBE-vaccine in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with tumor necrosis factor-inhibitors (TNFi) and/or methotrexate (MTX)., Methods: TBE vaccine, FSME-Immune(®) or Encepur(®), was administered to non-immune RA patients as well as age and gender matched healthy controls. Individuals <60 years of age were given three doses at month 0, 1, 12. Individuals ≥ 60 years old were given an additional priming dose at month 3, i.e. a total of four doses. Tick-borne encephalitis neutralizing antibodies were assessed by a rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test., Results: The study population consisted of 66 patients and 56 age and gender matched healthy controls. Median age was 58.5 years. The patients were either treated with TNFi (n=16), TNFi+MTX (n=36) or MTX (n=14). After the last TBE-vaccine dose, given one year after the first, 39% of the patients compared to 79% of the healthy controls had seroprotective levels (p=<0.05)., Conclusions: Standard TBE-vaccine schedule does not confer enough immunogenicity in this group of immunosuppressed patients, who should be carefully informed about a higher risk for vaccination failure and risk of infection when exposed in high-endemic areas., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: This study investigated the safety and immunogenicity of different formulations and schedules of a candidate subunit herpes zoster vaccine containing varicella-zoster virus glycoprotein E (gE) with or without the adjuvant system AS01B., Methods: In this phase II, single-blind, randomized, controlled study, adults aged ≥60years (N=714) received one dose of 100μggE/AS01B, two doses, two months apart, of 25, 50, or 100μggE/AS01B, or two doses of unadjuvanted 100μggE/saline. Frequencies of CD4(+) T cells expressing ≥2 activation markers following induction with gE were measured by intracellular cytokine staining and serum anti-gE antibody concentrations by ELISA., Results: Frequencies of gE-specific CD4(+) T cells were >3-fold higher after two doses of all gE/AS01B formulations than after one dose of 100μggE/AS01B or two doses of 100μggE/saline. Frequencies were comparable after two doses of 25, 50, or 100μggE/AS01B. Serum anti-gE antibody concentrations were comparable after two doses of 50 or 100μggE/AS01B and higher than in the other groups. Immune responses persisted for at least 36 months. Reactogenicities of all gE/AS01B formulations were similar but greater than with gE/saline., Conclusions: The three formulations of gE/AS01B were immunogenic and well tolerated in adults aged ≥60years. Two vaccinations with gE/AS01B induced higher immune responses than one and the dose of gE impacted humoral but not cellular immune responses (NCT00434577)., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The currently recommended single dose of the 23-valent pneumococcal free polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) for adults 65 years of age and older does not provide extended protection into older age. This reflects a significant unmet medical need for alternative strategies to protect older adults against pneumococcal infection, which may be met by the 13-valent polysaccharide conjugate vaccine (PCV13)., Methods: We performed a randomized, modified double-blind trial in 936 adults aged 70 years and older who had previously received PPSV23 at least 5 years before study entry and were now vaccinated with PCV13 or PPSV23. At 1 year after enrollment, all subjects received a follow-on dose of PCV13. Anti-pneumococcal opsonophagocytic activity (OPA) titers were measured before and at 1 month after each vaccination., Results: Following the enrollment vaccination, OPA titers were significantly greater in the PCV13 group compared to the PPSV23 group for 10 of the 12 serotypes common to both vaccines and to serotype 6A which is unique to PCV13. Responses were noninferior for the other 2 common serotypes. Responses to PCV13 given at 1 year were generally lower in the group that received PPSV23 at enrollment., Conclusion: In adults aged 70 years and older previously vaccinated with PPSV23, PCV13 was significantly more immunogenic than PPSV23 for most of the common serotypes and for serotype 6A. The OPA responses after a follow-on dose of PCV13 one year later indicate that a prior dose of PPSV23, but not PCV13, diminishes the response to the subsequent administration of PCV13., (Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The current recommendations for active immunization after stem cell transplant (SCT) include 3 doses of 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) from 3 months after transplant, followed by a 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine (PPV23). However, until now, the immune response to PPV23 after PCV7 has not been assessed after SCT. In the EBMT IDWP01 trial, 101 patients received 1 dose of PPV23 at 12 or 18 months, both after 3 doses of PCV7. The efficacy of PPV23 was assessed 1 month later and at 24 months after transplant by the pneumococcal serotype 1 and 5 antibody levels. Serotype 1 and 5 are not included in PCV7. Although the geometric mean concentrations were significantly higher 1 month after PPV23, for both antigens, the response rates (> or =0.15 microg/mL), in the range of 68-94%, were not different between groups independent of the assessment date. One PPV23 dose after 3 PCV7 doses, already known to increase the response to PCV7, also extends the serotype coverage given 12 or 18 months after transplant., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)