Invasive pneumococcal disease in Australia: 2013 and 2014

In Australia, there were 1,552 cases (6.7 per 100,000 population per year) of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) notified to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) in 2013, and 1,564 cases (6.7 per 100,000 population per year) in 2014. The non-age standardised rate of IPD in Indigenous Australians was six times the rate of IPD in non-Indigenous Australians in both 2013 and 2014. Following the July 2011 introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (13vPCV) to the National Immunisation Program (NIP), the overall rate of IPD in children aged less than 5 years decreased from 19.8 per 100,000 population per year in 2011 to 12.5 per 100,000 population per year in 2013. In 2014 there was a slight increase in the overall rate of IPD in children aged less than 5 years to 14.1 per 100,000 population per year in 2014. In both 2013 and 2014, the rate of IPD caused by serotypes included 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (23vPPV) declined in Indigenous adults aged 50 years or older (40.5 per 100,000 population per year and 35.2 per 100,000 population per year, respectively) after displaying a gradual increase between 2002 and 2012. Rates of IPD in non-Indigenous adults aged 65 years or older caused by serotypes included in the 23vPPV also declined in both 2013 and 2014 (9.5 per 100,000 population per year and 8.3 per 100,000 population per year, respectively) compared to 2011 (11.8 per 100,000 population per year). There were 134 deaths attributable to IPD in 2013 (a case fatality rate of 8.6%) and 118 in 2014 (a case fatality rate of 7.5%).