PCV13 recommended for 6- to 18-year-olds at high risk

(HealthDay)—Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 13 (PCV13) should be administered to certain children aged 6 through 18 years who are at high risk of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), according to a policy statement published online Nov. 24 in Pediatrics.

Carrie L. Byington, M.D., from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Infectious Diseases, and colleagues provide recommendations for use of PCV13 in children aged 6 through 18 years of age.

In a new recommendation, not previously included in AAP policy, the authors note that children aged 6 through 18 years with immunocompromising conditions that place them at high risk of IPD who have not previously received PCV13 should be given a single dose of PCV13. Administration of PCV13 should take place regardless of whether these children previously received PCV7 or pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine 23 (PPSV23). Children who have not previously been immunized with PPSV23 should receive PPSV23 eight weeks or longer after PCV13 administration. For children who have previously been immunized with PPSV23, a single dose of PCV13 should be administered eight weeks or more after PPSV23 administration. Other recommendations are unchanged from previous policy.

"The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend the expanded use of PCV13 in children 6 through 18 years of age with certain conditions that place them at elevated risk of IPD," the authors write.