Antagonism between pneumococcal vaccines and COVID-19

Abstract

The review examines the clinical and epidemiological links between COVID-19 and pneumonia. At the same time, both general patterns linking viral respiratory infections and bacterial infections of the lower respiratory tract are discussed, as well as recent data relating directly to COVID-19. The clinical aspects of secondary infections, the peculiarities of their etiology, course and outcomes are analyzed separately. The publication provides a short essay on the history of the development of vaccines against pneumococcal infection. The current vaccines against pneumococcal infection are described, their brief characteristics and individual characteristics are given, their clinical and immunological advantages and disadvantages are analyzed. The data on the effectiveness of vaccine prophylaxis using pneumococcal vaccine are presented. The specific and nonspecific effects of vaccine prophylaxis both at the population level and at the level of an individual organism as a whole and in particular when using vaccines against pneumococci are considered separately. Data on the putative biochemical and molecular mechanisms of these effects are presented. Based on the data presented, the need for the use of pneumococcal vaccines in the prevention of the spread of the SARS-Cov2 virus, the prevention of complications of COVID-19 and the rehabilitation of patients who have undergone this infection is substantiated. When considering the role of pneumococcal vaccines in the rehabilitation of patients who have undergone COVID-19, their potential is analyzed both in accelerating the restoration of the normal functioning of the immune system and in the prevention of superinfections. The ways of further research in this direction are outlined, which include the development of protocols for certain groups of patients with concomitant diseases and immuno-compromised contingents. In this direction, the role of a thorough and comprehensive study of the immunological and clinical indicators of this category of persons is emphasized.