HAVE YOU HAD YOUR PNEUMONIA VACCINATIONS?
These are interesting times. The rate of new Covid-19 cases and deaths are at present decreasing. However—although not yet at the extent of pre-pandemic years—the flu season is back. Plus, we seniors are still very much susceptible to another infection: pneumonia. The good news is that we can lessen our pneumonia risk with vaccinations.
I did a bit of research and found this recent (September 2021) online AARP article by Barbara Sepko, Save Your Lungs from Pneumonia. Here are excerpts:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 250,000 people in the U.S. have to seek care in a hospital because of pneumonia—where the lungs become filled with fluid and inflamed, leading to breathing difficulties—each year. And pneumococcal pneumonia kills approximately 1 in 20 older adults who get it, the CDC reports.
Before the pandemic, pneumococcal pneumonia, caused by a bacterial infection, killed more people in the U.S. every year than all other vaccine-preventable diseases combined. People 65 and older are particularly at risk because as we age, our immune system isn’t able to fight off these infections.
The flu, pneumonia and inflammation create a deadly threat
“Pneumococcal pneumonia can follow other viral infections, particularly influenza,” says William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. The biology behind it: The flu virus attaches to, and infects, the cells lining the mucous membranes in the back of the throat, nose and bronchial tubes. Normally, the cells eject infectious agents out of the body via the nose or mouth, or they’re simply swallowed. But when impaired by the flu, the cells lining these membranes allow the bacteria to slip down into the bronchial tubes and trigger a secondary infection in the lungs. The infection inflames the air sacs in the lungs, causing them to fill with pus and fluid. That not only makes it hard to breathe but can allow bacteria to escape into the bloodstream, causing an infection called sepsis, an aggressive inflammatory response that can, ultimately, lead to organ failure.
Why it’s important to get the shot
“Pneumococcal pneumonia, particularly in people 65 and older, has a high case-fatality rate, even with appropriate antibiotics,” says Gregory Poland, M.D., an infectious disease expert and director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group.
Studies show that rolling up your sleeve and taking a little needle discomfort can reduce your risk of illness by as much as 40 to 60 percent, helping you avoid a hospital visit — especially important this season, with the flu potentially raging alongside the coronavirus. “It’s important for your own personal protection and will take some of the burden off an already overwhelmed health care system,” says Schaffner.
Pneumococcal pneumonia, of course, is also likely be a complication of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common and highly contagious winter lung infection, which—uncharacteristically—spread last summer, and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. However, the pneumococcal vaccine won’t shield you from pneumonia that results from either of them. As Schaffner puts it, “Pneumonia from Covid is a different sort of pneumonia.” [While most people recover from pneumonia without any lasting lung damage, the pneumonia associated with COVID-19 can be severe. Even after the disease has passed, lung injury may result in breathing difficulties that might take months to improve.]
Who needs one, or two, pneumonia vaccines?
Until recently there have been two pneumococcal vaccines, each working in a different way to maximize protection. Pneumovax (PPSV23) protects against 23 strains of pneumococcal bacteria. “Those 23 strains are about 90- to 95-plus percent of the strains that cause pneumonia in humans,” Poland explains. Prevnar 13 (PCV13), on the other hand, is a conjugate vaccine that protects against 13 strains of pneumococcal bacteria. “PCV13 induces immunologic memory,” he says. “Your body will remember that it has encountered an antigen 20 years from now and develop antibodies to fight it off.”
In order to get the best protection against all strains of bacteria that cause pneumonia, the CDC has long recommended that everyone 65 or older receive both vaccines: PCV13 (or Prevnar 13), followed by the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23, or Pneumovax) at a later visit. [Or one or two of the new vaccines described below.]
“Anyone who reaches the age of 65 and is in any way immunocompromised or has any of the listed indications for pneumococcal vaccine because they’re in a high-risk group — for example, if they have diabetes, heart disease or lung disease, or are a smoker — should continue to get both vaccines,” says Schaffner.
Two new pneumococcal vaccines have been approved by the FDA:
Prevnar 20, from Pfizer, protects against 20 strains, including seven strains that account for 40 percent of pneumococcal disease cases and deaths in the U.S.
Vaxneuvance, from Merck, is a new 15-valent conjugate vaccine that protects against 15 strains.
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Ask your medical professional which of these pneumonia vaccinations you should get—and when you should get them. All are free with most health insurance plans.