Impact of 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on hospital admissions due to pneumonia among children in Nepal

To evaluate the impact of 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV10) introduction on hospital admission due to pneumonia among children in Nepal. Hospital records from Siddhi Memorial Hospital, Bhaktapur from 2014 to 2022 were retrospectively analyzed to compare pre-PCV10 (2014–2015) and post-PCV10 (2016–2022) periods. Among 10,897 admitted children, the proportion of pneumonia cases declined from 20.4 % ( n = 429) before the introduction of PCV10 to 10.5 % ( n = 923) after its introduction ( p < 0.001). The adjusted prevalence of pneumonia was 19 % lower in 2016 (aPR 0.81 (95 % CI: 0.64–1.02)) and 69 % lower in 2020 (aPR 0.31 (95 % CI: 0.21–0.45)) among children 2 to 23 months of age. Similarly, aPR reduced from 0.72 (95 % CI: 0.55–0.96) in 2016 to 0.31 (95 % CI 0.17–0.55) in 2020 among children of 24 to 59 months. These findings support PCV10's role in reducing burden of childhood pneumonia in Nepal.