ABSTRACT
Background. Vaccine-preventable diseases pose a risk towards heart transplant recipients on lifelong immunosuppression. Immunization rates are low (30-80%) in solid organ transplants. The aim of this study was to examine the vaccination rates in our hospital's heart transplant recipients with a goal to expose deficiencies and formulate strategies to increase vaccination in this population. Methods. This study is a single-center retrospective chart review of patients aged 18 or older who received a heart transplant between January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2022 at our institutionin Temple, Texas.We documented vaccination status or seropositivity prior to or after transplant, as recommended by the American Society of Transplantation (AST) for influenza, hepatitis B, hepatitis A, measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide (PPSV23), 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate (PCV13), tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap), varicella, zoster, and COVID-19 immunizations. We evaluated the association with an Infectious Disease (ID) consult. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated with 95% confidence intervals. Results. 72 patients received a heart transplant within the 10-year period. Demographics are noted in table 1. Table 2 presents the immunization status as follows: 48.7% for flu vaccine, 55.5% for Hepatitis B, 47.1% for Hepatitis A, 36.1% for MMR, 67.5% for PPSV23, 67.5% for PCV13, 54.1% for Tdap, 83.3% for Varicella and 13.8% for Zoster, and 53.5% for COVID-19. From 2016, an ID consult was required pre-transplant;45 patients (62.5%) had an ID consult before transplant. ID consult was associated with increased likelihood of receiving the MMR, PCV13, Tdap, and Zoster vaccines (table 3). Table 1 Patient demographics Table 2 Immunization status in heart transplant recipients Table 3 Immunization status associated with ID consult Conclusion. This study reveals the deficiency of vaccinations in our heart transplant patients, but an ID consult was associated with better immunization rates. To further increase compliance, we propose different interventions including close follow-up with ID, addressing vaccine costs, accessibility limitations, cultural hesitancy, and implementation of protocols.