Sepsis Due to Streptococcus pneumoniae in a Patient with Alcoholism Who Received Pneumococcal Vaccine

• Published in: Clinical infectious diseases Vol. 28; no. 5; pp. 1162 - 1163
• Main Authors: McMahon, Brian J., Parkinson, Alan J., Rudolph, Karen, Davidson, Michael, Grabman, James
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 01.05.1999; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Adult; Alaska Natives; Alcoholism; Alcoholism - complications; Alcoholism - immunology; Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Antibodies; Antibodies, Bacterial - blood; Bacteremia - etiology; Bacteremia - immunology; Bacteremia - microbiology; Bacterial Vaccines - immunology; Biological and medical sciences; Brief Reports; Fatal Outcome; Female; Humans; Immune response; Immunization; Infections; Medical sciences; Pneumococcal vaccine; Pneumonia, Pneumococcal - immunology; Pneumonia, Pneumococcal - microbiology; Preventive medicine; Sepsis; Streptococcus pneumoniae; Streptococcus pneumoniae - classification; Streptococcus pneumoniae - isolation & purification; Toxicology; Vaccination; Vaccines, Conjugate - immunology; Human; Lung disease; Immune response; Respiratory disease; Alcoholism; Vaccination; Vaccine; Streptococcus pneumoniae; Infection; Case study; Prevention; Sepsis syndrome; Streptococcaceae; Immunoprophylaxis; Streptococcal infection; Bacteriosis; Bacteria; Micrococcales; Failure
• ISSN: 1058-4838; 1537-6591
• DOI: 10.1086/517764

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia in the United States. Alcoholics are at increased risk of pneumonia and septicemia secondary to S. pneumoniae. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine for all alcoholics. Although most studies have shown this vaccine to be efficacious in preventing infections, the efficacy has varied from -34% to 70% in prospective and case-control studies of U.S. populations. Alaska Natives have a high rate of invasive infection due to S. pneumoniae. Herein we report a fatal case of septicemia due to S. pneumoniae serotype 4 in an Alaska Native female patient with alcoholism who had received the 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine during a study 6 years earlier, but who did not demonstrate a rise in type 4 serotype specific IgG antibodies after vaccination.