Abstract
SummaryCurrent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) guidelines recommend immunization of all human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients against meningitis serotype ACWY due to recent outbreaks of meningitis C in homosexual men in the USA. Implementation of this recommendation in other countries, such as Austria is hindered by the scarce knowledge on the vaccine coverage. In this study the serostatus for meningococcus serogroup C was analyzed in 390 HIV-infected individuals residing in Austria. These individuals were representative for the Austrian HIV cohort regarding sex, age, transmission risk and HIV progression markers. Overall, 73% were on suppressive antiretroviral therapy, the mean CD4 cell count was 599 cells/μl and immunoglobulin G (IgG) seropositivity was 18% for meningococcus serogroup C. Migrants and patients who had acquired an infection via heterosexual intercourse had a higher chance for meningococcus serogroup C seropositivity. Importantly due to the well-preserved immune status of nearly all participants vaccination would be feasible in the majority of the seronegative patients. It is assumed that this measure would largely reduce the number of patients at risk for this vaccine-preventable disease.
Highlights
Vaccines are highly effective to prevent infectious diseases in humans
Patients infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are more likely to acquire and experience a more severe course of infectious diseases and bear a higher risk to show an inadequate response to immunization or develop immunization associated complications due to severe immune depletion [1, 2]
In 2016 the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA) recommended that all HIV-infected patients susceptible to meningococcal disease should be vaccinated [5]. This recommendation is based on the observation of several clustered outbreaks of invasive meningococcal disease in young men having sex with men (MSM) in several cities of the USA, Canada and Europe [6,7,8,9]
Summary
Vaccines are highly effective to prevent infectious diseases in humans. Patients infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are more likely to acquire and experience a more severe course of infectious diseases and bear a higher risk to show an inadequate response to immunization or develop immunization associated complications due to severe immune depletion [1, 2]. In 2016 the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA) recommended that all HIV-infected patients susceptible to meningococcal disease should be vaccinated [5]. This recommendation is based on the observation of several clustered outbreaks of invasive meningococcal disease in young men having sex with men (MSM) in several cities of the USA, Canada and Europe [6,7,8,9]. It has been suggested that the absence of such outbreaks in the Netherlands
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