Pneumococco–What?

Annnd we’re back to talking about vaccines again. This time, however, we will be discussing pneumococcal pneumonia and its vaccinations.

Pneumococcal pneumonia is caused by a bacterium, pneumococcus, but the bacteria can lead to more serious illnesses like meningitis or septicemia. According to Galveston County, The Daily News, “the death rate due to pneumococcal pneumonia is 5 percent to 7 percent and rises upwards of 60 percent if meningitis or septicemia develop.” Fortunately, there are two vaccines that target the pneumococcus bacteria, the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV13 or Prevnar 13) and the Pneumococcal Polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23 or Pneumovax23). According to the CDC, PCV13 is recommended for all children under the age of 2 and people 2 years or older with certain medical conditions. Adults 65 or older may also receive this vaccine but have to speak with their doctor about it. The PPSV23 is recommended for all adults 65 years or older, people ages 2 to 64 with certain medical conditions, and adults ages 19 to 64 who smoke cigarettes.

Which Vaccine Is Better?

While the vaccines can help protect against pneumococcal disease, they cannot prevent all cases, makes sense. According to the Galveston County Daily News article, the PCV13 stimulates the immune system differently than the PPSV23, causing a longer lasting protective response. There were studies performed looking at protection against infections caused by the strains in the specific vaccines, and the CDC posted the results. This study showed that at least 1 dose of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine protected at least 8 out of 10 babies from serious infections, 75 out of 100 adults 65 years or older against invasive pneumococcal disease, and 45 out of 100 adults 65 years or older against pneumococcal pneumonia. At least one dose of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine protected between 50 to 85 out of 100 people against invasive pneumococcal disease.

Stay On Top Of Your Vaccines!

Like most illnesses, vaccines are known to be the leading preventative measure. Of course, like I may have mentioned in my blogs before, vaccines may not be 100% effective but some protection is better than no protection. Since those more at risk for getting pneumococcal pneumonia are young children or older adults, it is better for everyone’s vaccines to be up to date. Even if parents don’t want to look at it a certain way, their loved ones could be spreading the disease to one another without knowing, and the cycle of it going back and forth might be hard to stop. Getting vaccinated is one of the most effective ways for one to stay healthy and not have to worry about falling into any other serious illness. While researching about this, I didn’t come across any anti-vaxxers talking about this vaccine, but I am sure there are people out there who refuse to get it. Don’t be stupid or ignorant, just get the vaccine so everyone can live their life worry free from this disease!