The Department of Health and Social Care recommends Prevenar 13 for particular groups:

It has been estimated that in the first 11 years of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine programme almost 40,000 cases of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (IPD) were prevented.¹

The Prevenar 13 vaccine is part of the childhood immunisation programme and should be administered according to the UK schedule.²

Infants who receive a first dose of Prevenar 13 should complete the vaccination course with Prevenar 13.^3,4

Prevenar 13 can be co-administered with other routine paediatric vaccines administered as part of the UK national immunisation programme.^2,3

Prevenar 13 is also recommended for children from their first birthday up until their second birthday who have an unknown or incomplete vaccination history.^4,5

In addition to the childhood immunisation programme, The Green Book recommends one dose of Prevenar 13 for:⁴

• Children at clinical risk aged 2 to under 10 years of age who are partially immunised or unimmunised against pneumococcal disease

• Children aged 2 to under 10 years of age who are severely immunocompromised*

• Children aged 10 years and onwards and adults who are severely immunocompromised*

^*Examples of severely immunocompromised include bone marrow transplant patients, patients with acute and chronic leukaemia, multiple myeloma or genetic disorders affecting the immune system (such as IRAK-4, NEMO).⁴

The Green Book refers Healthcare Professionals to The British HIV Association (BHIVA) for guidance on the vaccination of adults living with HIV.⁶

The British HIV Association (BHIVA) guidance recommends all adults who are HIV positive should receive a single dose of Prevenar 13, irrespective of CD4 cell count, antiretroviral therapy (ART) use and viral load.⁷

The Green Book outlines that infants living with HIV should receive Prevenar 13 as part of the routine childhood immunisation programme. Children living with HIV aged 2 to 10 years of age who are unimmunised or partially immunised against pneumococcal disease should receive a single dose of Prevenar 13.⁷

For an in-depth pneumococcal immunisation schedule for individuals in clinical risk groups please visit chapter 25 of the Green Book.

For the childhood immunisation programme in England, stock is ordered via the Department of Health’s ImmForm website.⁸

For clinical risk groups outlined in chapter 25 of the Green Book, ImmForm should not be used. Prevenar 13 should be ordered directly from Alliance Healthcare (ImmForm stock is reserved for the infant national immunisation programme).

References