{"id":838,"date":"2015-10-19T13:00:54","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T17:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/?p=838"},"modified":"2015-10-16T16:59:35","modified_gmt":"2015-10-16T20:59:35","slug":"prevent-pneumonia-get-vaccinated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/prevent-pneumonia-get-vaccinated\/","title":{"rendered":"Prevent Pneumonia \u2013 Get Vaccinated!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Shah-headshot.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-779\" src=\"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Shah-headshot-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Shah headshot\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Krupa Shah, MD, MPH<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Assistant Professor<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">University of Rochester School of Medicine &amp; Dentistry<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Most people are aware of the flu vaccine. Fewer know that there is another important vaccine available \u2013 to prevent pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection and inflammation of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.agingcare.com\/Articles\/how-lungs-work-overview-for-family-caregivers-136887.htm\">lungs<\/a>. There is a high rate of sickness, hospitalization, and death associated with pneumonia in older adults who are 65 years old or above.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve reviewed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/tips-on-preventing-pneumonia-in-older-adults\/\">how to prevent pneumonia before<\/a>, but here is some more information on why older adults should consider getting vaccinated as a way to prevent pneumonia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vaccines to prevent pneumonia are called pneumococcal vaccines.<\/strong> These vaccines can prevent or reduce the severity of pneumococcal pneumonia, a very common cause of bacterial pneumonia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Two types of <\/strong><strong>pneumococcal <\/strong><strong>vaccines are currently available<\/strong> to prevent pneumonia in older adults.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV13 or Prevnar 13<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>) and<\/li>\n<li>Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine (PPSV23 or Pneumovax<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><strong>Some history will help understand our current guidance.\u00a0<\/strong>Previously, only the PPSV23 was recommended for adults 65 years and older to prevent pneumonia. This guidance changed recently. In August 2014, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices decided to add the PCV13 to the routine immunization schedule for adults 65 years and older. The change in guidance was made because research showed\u00a0that adding the PCV13 may offer greater protection for older adults against pneumonia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bottom Line \u2013 the new vaccination schedule for pneumonia:\u00a0<\/strong>Adults 65 years and older should receive <strong><em>both<\/em><\/strong> PCV13 and PPSV23, but <em><strong>not<\/strong> <\/em>at the same time.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you have not received any pneumococcal vaccine, then you should first receive PCV13 and then PPSV23 one year later.<\/li>\n<li>If you have already received PPSV23, the dose of PCV13 should be given at least 1 year after you got your most recent dose of PPSV23.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Make sure to ask your healthcare professional\u00a0about getting vaccinated for pneumonia!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Krupa Shah, MD, MPH Assistant Professor University of Rochester School of Medicine &amp; Dentistry Most people are aware of the flu vaccine. Fewer know that there is another important vaccine available \u2013 to prevent pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/prevent-pneumonia-get-vaccinated\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,9],"tags":[40,11,37],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":843,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions\/843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}