title: Rationale and design of the CAPAMIS study: effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccination against community-acquired pneumonia, acute myocardial infarction and stroke.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine (PPV-23) is recommended for elderly and high-risk people, although its effectiveness is controversial. Some studies have reported an increasing risk of acute vascular events among patients with pneumonia, and a recent case-control study has reported a reduction in the risk of myocardial infarction among patients vaccinated with PPV-23. Given that animal experiments have shown that pneumococcal vaccination reduces the extent of atherosclerotic lesions, it has been hypothesized that PPV-23 could protect against acute vascular events by an indirect effect preventing pneumonia or by a direct effect on oxidized low-density lipoproteins. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of PPV-23 in reducing the risk of pneumonia and acute vascular events (related or nonrelated with prior pneumonia) in the general population over 60 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cohort study including 27,000 individuals 60 years or older assigned to nine Primary Care Centers in the region of Tarragona, Spain. According to the reception of PPV-23 before the start of the study, the study population will be divided into vaccinated and nonvaccinated groups, which will be followed during a consecutive 30-month period. Primary Care and Hospitals discharge databases will initially be used to identify study events (community-acquired pneumonia, hospitalisation for acute myocardial infarction and stroke), but all cases will be further validated by checking clinical records. Multivariable Cox regression analyses estimating hazard ratios (adjusted for age, sex and comorbidities) will be used to estimate vaccine effectiveness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the study will contribute to clarify the controversial effect of the PPV-23 in preventing community-acquired pneumonia and they will be critical in determining the possible role of pneumococcal vaccination in cardiovascular prevention.
authors.affiliation: Primary Care Service of Tarragona-Valls, Institut Catalá de la Salut, Tarragona, Spain.
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vila-Corcoles
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hospital-Guardiola
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ochoa-Gondar
authors.forename: Cinta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Diego
authors.forename: Elisabet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salsench
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Raga
authors.forename: Cruz M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Fuentes-Bellido
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines; D011018:Pneumonia, Pneumococcal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012107:Research Design; D020521:Stroke / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: C414006:23-valent pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines