Facts for Patients About Pneumococcal Disease

What is Pneumococcal Disease?

Pneumococcal (pronounced new-mo-KOK-al) disease is an infection caused by bacteria. These bacteria can attack different parts of the body. When they invade the lungs, they cause the most common kind of bacterial pneumonia. When the same bacteria attack blood cells, they cause an infection called bacteremia (bak-ter-E-me-ah). And in the brain, they cause meningitis. Pnemococcal pneumonia is a serious illness that kills thousands of older people in the United States each year.

Can Pneumonia Be Prevented?

Yes. The pneumococcal vaccine is safe, it works, and one shot lasts most people a lifetime. People who get the vaccine are protected against almost all of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia and other pneumococcal diseases as well. The shot, which is covered by Medicare, can be a lifesaver.

Who Should Get the Vaccine?

According to the National Institute on Aging, one of the National Institutes of Health, everyone age 65 and older should get the pneumococcal vaccine. Some younger people should get it also.

Ask a Doctor for the Vaccine if You:

• Are age 65 or older, or
• Have a chronic illness, such as heart or lung disease or diabetes, or
• Have a weak immune system (this can be caused by certain kidney diseases, some cancers, HIV infection, organ transplant medicines, and other diseases).

Some experts say it may be best to get the shot before age 65 - anytime after age 50 - since the younger you are, the better the results. They also say people should have this shot even if they have had pneumonia before. There are many different kinds of pneumonia, and having one kind does not protect against the others. The vaccine, however, does protect against 88 percent of the pneumococcal bacteria that cause pneumonia. It does not guarantee that you will never get pneumonia. It does not protect against viral pneumonia. Most people need to get the shot only once. However some older people may need a booster; check with your doctor to find out if this is necessary.

Are There Side Effects?

Some people have mild side effects from the shot, but these usually are minor and last only a very short time. In studies, about half of the people getting the vaccine had mild side effects - swelling and soreness at the spot where the shot was given, usually on the arm. A few people (less than 1 percent) had fever and muscle pain as well as more serious swelling and pain on the arm. The pneumonia shot cannot cause pneumonia because it is not made from the bacteria itself, but from an extract that is not infectious. (The same is true of the flu shot, it cannot cause flu.) In fact, people can get the pneumonia vaccine and a flu shot at the same time.

About the Disease and the Vaccine

• There are two main kinds of pneumonia - viral pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia. Bacterial pneumonia is the most serious. One kind of bacteria causes pneumococcal pneumonia. In older people, this type of pneumonia is a common cause of hospitalization and death.
• About 20 to 30 percent of people over age 65 who have pneumococcal pneumonia develop bacteremia. At least 20 percent of those with bacteremia die from it, even though they get antibiotics.
• People age 65 and older are at high risk. They are two to three times more likely than people in general to get pneumococcal infections.
• A recent, large study by the National Institutes of Health shows that the vaccine prevents most cases of pneumococcal pneumonia.

The U.S. Public Health Service, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, and the American Lung Association now recommend that all people age 65 and older get this vaccine.

Key Facts

• Everyone age 65 and older should get the pneumococcal vaccine.
• Anyone with a chronic disease or a weak immune system should also get the vaccine.
• Most people need to get it only once.
• Most people have mild or no side effects.
• It is covered by Medicare.

Resources

More information about adult immunizations is available from the following groups:

National Institute on Aging
P.O. Box 8057
Gaithersburg, MD 20898-9057
1-800-222-2225
1-800-222-4225 (TTY)
NIAINFO@ACCESS.DIGEX.NET

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Immunization Program
1600 Clifton Road
Atlanta, GA 30333
404-639-1819
http://www.cdc.gov

National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
Suite 750
4733 Bethesda Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-656-0003
http://www.medscape.com/nfid

American Lung Association
1740 Broadway
New York, NY 10019-4374
1-800-LUNG-USA (586-4872)
http://www.lungusa.org

SOURCE:
National Institute on Aging
National Institutes of Health
Public Health Service
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services