Pneumococcal Vaccine Linked to Better COVID-19 Outcomes in IRD Patients: Study
Researchers have found in a new study that Pneumococcal vaccination was associated with fewer hospitalizations and a milder course of COVID-19 in individuals with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD), suggesting a protective effect beyond its primary purpose.
It has been suggested that vaccinations could induce a trained immunity able to decrease COVID-19 severity. Our primary aim was to evaluate the COVID-19 severity among patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) vaccinated against pneumococcus and influenza compared to those not vaccinated.
A secondary objective was also to determine They conducted a longitudinal study within the French administrative and medical data base (SNDS). We have identified patients with one following of these IRD: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spondyloarthritis (SpA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). COVID-19 infected patients were identified using CIM-10 code and vaccination status was extracted from the database.
Results: 406,156 patients were identified, with 64.6 % women and a mean age of 62.2 years. Pneumococcal and influenza vaccination rate in this population were respectively 37.8 % and 40.5 %. We recorded 0.9 % COVID-19 hospitalizations (n = 3574), 0.24 % severe infections (n = 980), and 0.17 % deaths (n = 697). Multivariate analysis demonstrated pneumococcal vaccination’s association with decreased risks of hospitalization (OR 0.84 IR95 %[0.78–0.91] p < 0.0001), severe COVID-19 forms (OR 0.83 IR95 %[0.72–0.96] p < 0.05), and death (OR 0.82 IR95 %[0.70–0.97] p < 0.05), while influenza vaccination associated with increased risks of these outcomes (OR 1.47 IR95 %[1.36–1.58] p < 0.0001, OR 1.54 IR95 %[1.33–1.78] p < 0.0001, OR 1.62 IR95 %[1.36–1.93] p < 0.0001, respectively).
Pneumococcal vaccination was associated with a reduced hospitalization rate, and occurrence of severe forms of COVID-19, including death, among infected patients. These findings suggest the possible involvement of vaccine-induced trained immunity in shaping the immune response to other infections especially COVID-19.
Reference:
Maxime Auroux, Thibaut Fabacher, Erik Sauleau, Laurent Arnaud, Fabienne Coury,
Pneumococcal and influenza vaccination coverage and impact on COVID-19 infection severity in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases: A French National Healthcare Database analysis, Vaccine, Volume 61, 2025, 127439, ISSN 0264-410X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.127439. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X25007364)
