Vaccination of immune compromised children—an overview for physicians
Open accessAbstract
Immune compromised children are threatened by a higher risk of infections; some of these are preventable by vaccination. Primary care physicians play a fundamental role in optimising vaccination status. In this narrative review, we present the evidence on vaccine safety and immunogenicity in immune compromised children and discuss in which conditions live-attenuated vaccines can possibly be used. Vaccination schedules differ in some of these conditions, including the use of vaccines with higher antigenic contents (e.g. high-dose hepatitis B vaccine), additional vaccine doses (e.g. 2-dose schedule meningococcal vaccine), more frequent booster doses (e.g. life-long pneumococcal vaccine booster), supplementary vaccines (e.g. meningococcal B vaccine) and use of vaccines beyond the age of usual recommendation (e.g. Haemophilus influenza type b vaccine after 5 years of age). Serological monitoring is a useful tool for customizing vaccination schedule in immune compromised children, confirming adequate vaccine response and documenting seroprotection (especially against measles and varicella). Finally, verification of vaccination status of all household members can prevent them being vector of transmission of an infection to the immune compromised children. Conclusion: Intensified information strategies are needed to improve trust, rectify perceived risks and improve vaccine acceptability; primary physicians can play a critical role in the latter. What is Known:• Physician’s awareness is key to success, since it repeatedly correlates with higher vaccination rates What is New:• The vaccination status of immunocompromised children is rarely up-to-date• Knowing the latest vaccine recommendations is challenging, as they differ for each medical condition and change periodically• This review summarises the vaccine recommendations for children with compromised immune systems and highlights how paediatricians play a key role in coordinating their application
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Patients who have received intensive, multidrug chemotherapy against osteosarcoma may have reduced antibody titres against vaccine-preventable infections for some months after chemotherapy, and some guidelines suggest measuring vaccine-induced antibody titres and repeating vaccinations.
“Patients who have received intensive, multidrug chemotherapy against osteosarcoma may have reduced antibody titres against vaccine-preventable infections for some months after chemotherapy, and some guidelines suggest measuring vaccine-induced antibody titres and repeating vaccinations 172,173 .”
From Osteosarcoma (2022) · cites this paper as [173]
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- Authors
- Pittet, L. F., & Posfay-Barbe, K. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Geneva (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Pittet, Laure F.
- Posfay-Barbe, Klara M.
- Venue
- European Journal of Pediatrics
- Published
- 2021-03-05
- Volume
- 180
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 2035-2047
- ISSN
- 0340-6199 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-1076
- PMC
- PMC8195953
- OpenAlex
- W3135066518
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 69
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 0.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- European Journal of Pediatrics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Université de Genève
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immune responses and vaccinations
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immunodeficiency and Autoimmune Disorders
- Keywords
- immunocompromised children, vaccination, vaccine safety, vaccine immunogenicity, live attenuated vaccine, vaccination schedule, meningococcal vaccine, meningococcal B vaccine, Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine, serological surveillance, measles, varicella, vaccine acceptance, primary care physicians
- MeSH terms
- Child, Humans, Immunization Schedule, Infant, Physicians, Vaccination, Hepatitis B Vaccines, Pneumococcal Vaccines
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