Posts Tagged ‘Pneumovax’

You may have seen the commercials on TV for the pneumonia vaccine Prevnar. It is the newer of the two pneumonia vaccines and is currently heavily advertised. You may have wondered if it is something you need, especially if you have already received the other pneumonia vaccine, Pneumovax. This blog is meant to clear up confusion that often surrounds the pneumonia vaccines.

Let’s start with the basics of what pneumonia is. Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that can be caused by viruses, bacteria, or fungi with the most common cause being the bacteria Streptococcal pneumoniae. (The vaccines protect against this kind of pneumonia).

People with pneumonia can experience symptoms such as shortness of breath, painful breaths, coughing up mucus, or fever. Symptom severity can vary across different patients.

Prevention of pneumonia is important, because, every year, an estimated 900,000 Americans get pneumonia, 400,000 are hospitalized, and 5-7% die from the infection. The young and the old are more susceptible and tend to get sicker when they get pneumonia.

As mentioned earlier, there are two different pneumonia vaccines, Prevnar and Pneumovax.

Prevnar is the newer pneumonia vaccine and contains thirteen pneumonia strains. Pneumovax has been around longer and contains twenty-three strains. Both vaccines are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

See the bullet points below for important pneumonia vaccine information, but don’t get bogged down by all the facts. Your doctor will help you determine when it is appropriate for you to get doses of the pneumonia vaccines.

• Both pneumonia vaccines are inactivated, meaning the bacteria is dead and the vaccine will not give you pneumonia. After receiving the vaccine, you may experience side effects such as injection site pain, redness, or a low grade fever which should go away in a day or two.
• Unlike the flu vaccine, the pneumonia vaccine is NOT one that you should get every year. Many people just need one dose of Prevnar and one dose of Pneumovax in their adult life.
• Most people over the age of 65 should receive both vaccines. If you haven’t had either of the pneumonia vaccines, it is recommended to get Prevnar first, then Pneumovax ONE YEAR LATER.
• If you are younger than 65, but have a chronic heart condition (NOT including high blood pressure), COPD, asthma, diabetes or smoke cigarettes, one dose of Pneumovax is recommended. If you don’t have a spleen, you should get two doses before age 65. With any of these conditions, you should still get another Pneumovax dose after age 65.
• If you are younger than 65 but have cochlear implants, HIV, or other conditions of weakened immune systems, one dose of Prevnar is recommended. There is not a need to get another Prevnar dose after age 65.
• It is important to make sure that Prevnar and Pneumovax doses are given at least one year apart from each other and that, if you get more than one dose of Pneumovax, the doses are no closer than five years apart.
• The manufacturer labels state that you can get the Prevnar and Pneumovax vaccines as young as 50-years-old, but the recommendation from the CDC is still age 65 for people without the conditions discussed above.

References:
Pneumococcal Disease: Fast Facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/pneumococcal/about/facts.html. Last updated 10 Jun 2015. Accessed 20 Feb 2017.
Adult Immunization Schedules. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/adult.html. Last updated 6 Feb 2017. Accessed 20 Feb 2017.