Response to pneumococcal vaccine in the elderly: no enhancement by indomethacin

We investigated whether indomethacin administration would augment the antibody response to pneumococcal vaccine in a group of healthy elderly individuals. There was no significant difference in mean increases in antibody levels to 12 pneumococcal polysaccharide types between the 20 subjects who received indomethacin 25 mg q.i.d. for five days after immunization and the control subjects not receiving indomethacin. In addition, there was no correlation within this group of 40 individuals between three measures of immune function (absolute lymphocyte count, delayed hypersensitivity testing, and response to phytohemagglutinin) and the antibody response to the pneumococcal vaccine.