Recurrent invasive pneumococcal disease serotype 12F in a vaccinated splenectomized patient

Abstract

This is the first case report of recurrent invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), specifically, due to serotype 12F. The patient described here was vaccinated with the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) due to previous splenectomy, and an anti-pneumococcal IgG test concluded that she had responded sufficiently to vaccination. Still, she had a fulminate recurrent infection with PPV23 serotype 12F. We investigated the anti-pneumococcal IgG test, and it turned out that it is based on the geometric mean value of only 12 of the serotypes included in PPV23; 12F is none of them. The reason is that there are no titer cut-offs available for 11 of the PPV23 serotypes, including 12F, neither nationally nor internationally. Yet, this is not specified in the answer to the clinicians. This case illustrates the need for titer cut-offs for the remaining pneumococcal serotypes in available vaccines, in order to get a more accurate estimation of the vaccination coverage for the individual patient. Therefore, more research on this area is warranted, along with a discussion of whether the laboratory answers to the clinicians should be more detailed.