Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on invasive pneumococcal disease in American Indian communities in the Southwest US

J Med Microbiol. 2025 Mar;74(3). doi: 10.1099/jmm.0.001983.

Abstract

American Indian (AI) communities in the Southwest have a high burden of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and COVID-19. Through laboratory-based surveillance, the impact of the pandemic on IPD incidence and serotype distribution was evaluated in two AI communities. IPD rates were lower during the pandemic (21.8 vs. 39.0/100 000 pre-pandemic). Rates increased in 2021 compared to 2020 but not to pre-pandemic levels. Cases with SARS-CoV-2 co-infection had a higher case fatality rate (45.2% vs. 17.6% without co-infection). No significant change in serotype distribution was observed. Continued surveillance in these communities is critical to understand the changing IPD burden as the pandemic evolves.

Keywords: COVID-19; Indigenous health; invasive pneumococcal disease; surveillance.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Coinfection / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumococcal Infections* / epidemiology
  • Pneumococcal Infections* / microbiology
  • Pneumococcal Infections* / mortality
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Serogroup
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / classification
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / isolation & purification
  • Young Adult