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Published on: February 23, 2014
Methods for a systematic review of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine dosing schedules
Jennifer D Loo1, Laura Conklin, Maria Deloria Knoll
1From the *Respiratory Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial Diseases, National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA; †International Vaccine Access Center, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD; ‡Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA; §Westat Inc., Rockville, MD; ¶Biostatistics Consulting, Chicago, IL; and ‖Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Insights
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) significantly reduce childhood illness and death. This systematic review examines PCV dosing schedules to inform optimal vaccine strategies for global child health.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Immunology
- Public Health
Background:
- Streptococcus pneumoniae infections cause significant child morbidity and mortality globally.
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are effective in preventing pneumococcal disease.
- Optimal PCV dosing schedules are crucial for effective immunization programs, especially in lower-income countries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review the effects of different pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) dosing schedules.
- To evaluate impacts on immunogenicity, nasopharyngeal carriage, invasive pneumococcal disease, and pneumonia.
- To inform policy decisions regarding PCV introduction in national immunization programs.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of English literature from 1994 to 2010.
- Independent double abstraction and data cleaning.
- Descriptive analyses of identified studies.
Main Results:
- 12,980 citations were initially identified.
- 769 articles underwent full data abstraction after title/abstract review.
- 350 studies were further analyzed and presented in supplement reports.
Conclusions:
- The study outlines the methodology for a systematic review on PCV dosing schedules.
- Due to study heterogeneity, formal meta-analyses were not conducted.
- The review provides a comprehensive overview of the literature on PCV dosing schedules.
Background:
Streptococcus pneumoniae causes a considerable amount of morbidity and mortality in children <5. However, pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) can prevent much of this burden. Until recently, PCVs were mostly available only in developed countries using a variety of dosing schedules. As more lower income countries make decisions to introduce PCV into their national immunization programs, an optimal schedule with which to administer PCV has become a key policy question.
Methods:
We performed a systematic review of English literature published from 1994 to 2010 on the effects of PCV dosing schedules on immunogenicity, nasopharyngeal carriage, invasive pneumococcal disease and pneumonia. Data were independently double abstracted and cleaned for analysis. Descriptive analyses were performed.
Results:
We identified 12,980 citations from the literature search (12,976) and secondary means (44). Double review of titles and abstracts yielded 769 articles that underwent full data abstraction. Of these, 350 were further analyzed and are presented in separate reports in this supplement.
Conclusions:
This article presents the methods utilized in our systematic review. Because of the heterogenity of the study methods of the reports identified by this review, we did not conduct formal meta-analyses. However, these methods allow us to present a full landscape of the literature on PCV dosing schedules.
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