Does the pneumococcal vaccine have cardiovascular benefits?

January 01, 0001

`Does the pneumococcal vaccine have cardiovascular benefits?

There is consistent evidence of a cardiovascular benefit in patients receiving the influenza vaccine. These US researchers sought to examine the association between pneumococcal vaccination and risk of acute myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke among men. They performed a prospective cohort study of Kaiser Permanente Northern and Southern California health plans with 84,170 participants (aged 45-69) years from the California Men's Health Study.

The authors report: "During follow-up, there were 1211 first MIs in 112,837 vaccinated person-years (10.73 per 1000 person-years) compared with 1494 first MI events in 246,170 unvaccinated person-years (6.07 per 1000 person-years). For stroke, there were 651 events in 122 821 vaccinated person- years (5.30 per 1000 person-years) compared with 483 events in 254 541 unvaccinated person-years (1.90 per 1000 person-years). With propensity score adjustment, we found no evidence for an association between pneumococcal vaccination and reduced risk of acute MI (adjusted HR, 1.09) or stroke (adjusted HR, 1.14). An inverse association was also not found in men of different age and risk groups. The results appeared to be consistent, because using more specific International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes for the outcome definition did not change the estimations."

The authors concluded: "Among a cohort of men aged 45 years or older, receipt of pneumococcal vaccine was not associated with subsequent reduced risk of acute MI and stroke."

This study found no evidence of cardiovascular benefit in patients receiving the pneumococcal vaccine.

For the full abstract, click here.

JAMA 303(17):1699-1706, 5 May 2010 © 2010 the American Medical Association
Pneumococcal Vaccination and Risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction and Stroke in Men. Hung Fu Tseng, Jeffrey M. Slezak, Virginia P. Quinn, Lina S. Sy, Stephen K. Van Den Eeden, Steven J. Jacobsen.

Category: K. Circulatory. Keywords: pneumococcal vaccination, pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, acute MI, myocardial infarction, stroke, prospective cohort study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Paul Schaefer, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 21 May 2010

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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