Hospitalization Risk Not Higher for Children with TB and Pneumococcal Infections

A South African team found no link between pneumococcal infections and hospitalization in children with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Mammen and colleagues conducted a retrospective study of PTB-related hospitalizations from 2005 to 2012 at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital to determine whether routine infant pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV) immunization affected incidence of hospitalizations for PTB in HIV-infected and uninfected children. The study comprised 950 children and three time-series: pre-PCV era (2005 to 2008), the transitional PCV era (2009 to 2010) and the established PCV era (2011 to 2012).

In addition, HIV prevalence in this demographic “was reported as 16% to 17% in adults and 2% to 3% in children between 2005 and 2012.”

Data analysis showed no significant difference in hospitalization occurrence due to PTB in all age groups. Overall, the quarterly incidence rate ratio (IRR) during the pre-PCV era was 0.918 (P < .01) for all children and 0.919 (P < .01) for HIV-infected children. For infants observed within the pre-PVC period, the quarterly IIR was 0.888 (P < .001), it was 0.937 (P = .360) within the transitional period and 1.26 (P = .014) within the established period. Among HIV-infected infants, the quarterly IIR was 0.872 (P < .001) in the pre-PCV era, 0.877 (P = .263) in the transitional era and 0.975 (P = .886) in the established era.