23-valent pneumococcal vaccine failure in a patient who developed pneumonia: a case report

We report a clinical failure of a pneumococcal vaccine in a patient who developed pneumococcal pneumonia. In 2008, an 85-year-old Italian woman was admitted to the Respiratory Disease Unit of a hospital in Southern Italy. The 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine had been administered to the patient 50 days earlier. The chest x-ray disclosed a right basal bronchopneumonic focus. Streptococcus Pneumoniae serotype 19A, a strain included in the 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine, was isolated from the sputum. There is a need for more efficacious conjugated vaccines covering the majority of the pneumococcal serotypes that cause serious illness in older children and adults worldwide.