Who Needs a Pneumonia Vaccine?

Who Needs the Pneumonia Vaccine?

COPD, Pneumonia and the importance of the pneumonia vaccination.

By: Dr. Eric Charles Snyder, DNP, ACNP-BC, Trinity Hospital Twin City

Pneumonia is a word that refers to an infection of the lower respiratory tract that is usually acute. People with pneumonia may have coughing, fever and chills, difficulty breathing and sometimes chest pain. If you get pneumonia, you may experience all, some, or none of these symptoms. This is usually because of the type of infection and how your immune system responds to it.

People with COPD are more likely to get pneumonia and more likely to need to be in the hospital because of it. Pneumonia can lead to an exacerbation (acute worsening) of your COPD, which can cause more coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath for you. Pneumonia can be very dangerous for someone with COPD, since people with COPD have a reduced function of their lung. In some cases, pneumonia-related complications can lead to death.

Pneumococcus is the most common bacterial infection that causes pneumonia in adults. Each year in the United States, pneumococcal disease kills thousands of adults, including 18,000 adults 65 years or older (CDC, 2014). Thousands more end up in the hospital because of pneumococcal disease. It is recommended that people with COPD receive the pneumococcal vaccine. The vaccine is given by a single injection in the muscle. Approximately half of people receiving the vaccine develop mild side effects, such as pain at the injection site, which last less than 48 hours. Fever and muscle aches are less common after vaccination, and more severe reactions are rare.

In general, the pneumococcal vaccine is recommended for people who are:

65 or older.

And

Under 65 but have a chronic illness like COPD.

A single re-vaccination is suggested if you:

Are 65 or older, initially received the vaccine more than five years earlier, and were younger than 65 at the time of the first vaccination.

Have a reduced immune system (people without a spleen for example). Otherwise, a repeat vaccination is not needed if the initial vaccination was given at age 65 or older.

The vaccine exists to help prevent the most common adult bacterial pneumonia which is Pneumococcus, and it is recommended for people with COPD. There are two different types of pneumococcal vaccine: PCV13 (conjugate) and PPSV23 (polysaccharide). Talk with your healthcare provider to find out if one or both pneumococcal vaccines are recommended for you. Please refer to the following website for more information.

Reference: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/adults/downloads/fs-pneumo-hcp.pdf

Dr. Eric Charles Snyder, DNP, ACNP-BC, is a hospitalist at Trinity Hospital Twin City of Dennison.