The evolving epidemiology of paediatric acute mastoiditis in New Zealand

In 2017, PCV-13 was replaced by PCV-10 in the New Zealand immunisation schedule. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of this change on the incidence and microbiology of paediatric acute mastoiditis (AM) in NZ.

A retrospective observational study was conducted, including patients aged <18 years with an ICD-10 diagnosis of AM documented in the NZ National Minimum Dataset between 2014 and 2022. Clinical and microbiological data were obtained for a sub-group of cases admitted to five tertiary hospitals across NZ. Cases were divided into four periods, 2014-2016 (PCV-13 baseline), 2017-2019 (transition), 2020-2021 (PCV-10 COVID) and 2022 (PCV-10 post-COVID) for analysis. In each period the national incidence of all-cause AM, proportion of AM cases attributable to S.pneumoniae and proportion of S.pneumoniae AM cases presenting with a subperiosteal abscess were compared with the baseline period.

391 new cases of paediatric AM occurred during the study period. The national incidence of paediatric AM increased from a baseline of 3.62 cases/100,000 person-years in 2014-2016 to 6.22 cases/100,000 person-years in 2022 (RR 1.72, 95 % CI 1.28-2.30). Microbiological data was available for 212 cases. In 2022 48 % of cases were attributed to S.pneumoniae, compared with 27 % in the baseline period (p = 0.03). In 2022 17/20 (85 %) of S.pneumoniae cases presented with a sub-periosteal abscess, compared with 8/18 (44 %) in the baseline period (p < 0.01).

The national incidence in NZ of all-cause paediatric AM increased in 2022, with a significant increase in the proportion of cases attributable to S.pneumoniae.