Faced with very low vaccination coverage rates, particularly against pneumococcus, in patients with inflammatory pathologies, American clinicians set up an action plan:
- the target population was patients with lupus or connective tissue diseases (including inflammatory myopathies such as dermatomyositis), whether or not they were being treated with immunosuppressive drugs,
- two types of vaccine (PCV13 and PPSV23) were offered to those concerned, and were strongly encouraged by healthcare professionals,
- in the general population, pneumococcal vaccination coverage rose from 10% to 90% in one year,
- in patients immunocompromised as a result of their treatment, the rate rose from 62% to 86%.
These figures underline the effectiveness of such a campaign, and we hope that it will continue over time.
