Eligibility for a government-funded pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) would be expanded to people aged 50 to 64, effective immediately, but only until the remaining vaccines are used up, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said that Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common cause of pneumonia in young children and elderly people.
The PPSV23 shots, as well as pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV13 or PCV15), were previously only offered to people over the age of 64.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
However, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met on Monday last week and recommended expanding eligibility to include people between 50 to 64 years old, or those born in 1974 or earlier, Tseng said.
Foreign nationals covered by the National Health Insurance or who have valid residency are also eligible for the vaccine, she added.
The free shots would be available until the vaccines are used up, and there are still about 100,000 doses in stock, she said.
People at high risk of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) — including those are immunocompromised, or have asplenia or hyposplenism (absence of the spleen or defective spleen function), cochlear implants, cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea or cancer, as well as people undergoing radiotherapy or who have had an organ transplant and are taking immunosuppressive agents — should get a first dose of PCV13 or PCV15, followed by a dose of PPV23 at least eight weeks later, she said.
People not in the IPD high-risk group who have received a dose of PCV13 or PCV15 should get the PPV23 shot at least one year after the previous dose, she added.
People aged 65 or older are still eligible for the free PCV13 vaccine followed by a dose of PPV23, while those in the IPD risk group, residents of long-term care facilities and people undergoing dialysis can get the two doses at least eight weeks apart, while others should get them at least one year apart, the CDC said.
Meanwhile, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that 15,188 hospital visits for enterovirus were reported last week, including a six-year-old with severe complications.
The main circulating strains are Coxsackie A viruses, Guo said.
CDC physician Liu Yu-cheng (劉裕誠) said that the six-year-old had a fever and herpangina, a disease characterized by small blister-like bumps or ulcers, early this month, and three days later developed neck pain and stiffness, and weakness on one side of his body.
He was hospitalized with suspected acute flaccid myelitis and tested positive for Coxsackie A2, Liu said, adding that the boy recovered after treatment and has been discharged.
Hospital visits for enterovirus infections last week were about 15 percent lower than the previous week, Tseng said.
However, while data suggest that the peak of infections has passed, the number of weekly hospital visits remains above the epidemic threshold, so the epidemic period is not over yet, she said.
People with young children should remain vigilant, practice good hand hygiene and watch for signs of severe complications if their child contracts enterovirus, she added.
In addition, 238 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 last week, while 23 people died from the disease, Guo said.
Most of the people who underwent testing had the JN.1 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2, while cases of the new KP.2 subvariant increased slightly, Guo added.
Local COVID-19 activity is slowing, but there are more than 200 hospitalizations and 20 deaths reported each week, with about 95 percent of them having not had the XBB.1.5-adapated vaccine, so the CDC urges people with higher risk of severe illness to get vaccinated, Tseng said.
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