Where To Give Pneumonia Vaccine

Types Of Pneumonia Vaccine

The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine also known as Prevenar 13 offers protection against 13 strains of pneumococcal bacteria. This type is given to young children as part of their routine NHS vaccinations. Its also available for adults under 65 through our vaccination service.

The pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine also known as Pneumovax 23 offers protection against 23 strains of pneumococcal bacteria. This type is given to adults over 65 and anyone with a very high risk of pneumonia.

What To Know About Mild Side Effects

As with any vaccine, you may experience some mild side effects after receiving the pneumococcal vaccine.

Mild side effects vary depending on which vaccine you receive. The side effects will usually go away within a few days.

Possible side effects of the PCV13 vaccine include:

• redness or discoloration, pain, or swelling at the site of the shot

• sleepiness or drowsiness
• mild fever

On very rare occasions, serious side effects can occur, such as high fever, convulsions, or a skin rash. Contact your childs pediatrician right away if you notice any of these symptoms.

Side Effects Of The Pneumococcal Vaccine

Like most vaccines, the childhood and adult versions of the pneumococcal vaccine can sometimes cause mild side effects.

These include:

• redness where the injection was given
• hardness or swelling where the injection was given

There are no serious side effects listed for either the childhood or adult versions of the vaccine, apart from an extremely rare risk of a severe allergic reaction .

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Are There Any Special Situations I Should Be Aware Of

Tetanus shots are for more than routine prevention. They can also help prevent infection when you get cut.

If your wound is minor and clean , youd only need a booster if its been more than 10 years since your last one. Either a Tdap or Td shot can be used.

For some injuries, such as puncture wounds or animal attacks, you may need a tetanus shot sooner. In these situations, a Tdap or Td vaccine is recommended if its been more than 5 years since your last booster.

When Is The Pneumonia Vaccine Given

The pneumonia vaccine is not the same as the flu vaccine, as it doesnt need to be given at a certain time of year. Rather, it can be given at any time, as long as its safe for you to have it.

However, if youre in a high-risk group for pneumonia, you should get the vaccine as soon as possible to make sure youre protected.

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What Are The Side Effects Of The Pneumonia Vaccines

PCV13 and PPSV23 can both cause mild side effects. Both pneumococcal vaccines are given in the arm and are injected into muscle. Children and adults may experience arm soreness, swelling, or redness where the shot was injected. Other side effects that may occur in adults include:

• Fatigue

• Drowsiness

PCV13 should not be given to children at the same time as the annual flu shot, because of an increased risk of . These seizures are caused by a high fever and occur in up to 5% of children under 5. They can be scary, but dont cause any long-term health problems.

The good news is that the side effects will resolve on their own within a few days.

What Is The Pneumonia Shot

The pneumonia shot is a vaccine that keeps you from getting pneumonia. There are two types of vaccines. The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is primarily for children under age two, though it can be given to older ages, as well. The pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine is for adults over age 65.

The pneumonia vaccine for older adults is one dose. Unlike the flu vaccine, you dont get it every year.

The vaccine teaches your body to make proteins that will destroy the pneumonia bacteria. These proteins are called antibodies and they will protect you and keep you from getting infected. The pneumonia vaccines dont have live bacteria or viruses in them, so you wont get pneumonia from the vaccine.

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You should have the pneumonia vaccine if you:

• Are over age 65
• Have a long-term health problem
• Asthma

Vaccines dont prevent all pneumonia, but people who get the shot dont get as sick as those who dont have it. Benefits of the vaccine include:

• Milder infections

• Ringing in your ears
• Sweating

If you know you dont like needles or feel worried before getting a vaccine, you can try to look away while you have the shot. You can also try a relaxation technique like deep breathing or visualization to help you feel calm.

Older people are more likely to have long-term health problems that can make getting an infection dangerous. The pneumonia shot is recommended for most people.

Continued

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Adults At High Risk Of Ipd

Adults with immunocompromising conditions resulting in high risk of IPD, except HSCT, should receive 1 dose of Pneu-C-13 vaccine followed at least 8 weeks later by 1 dose of Pneu-P-23 vaccine, if not previously received. The dose of Pneu-C-13 vaccine should be administered at least 1 year after any previous dose of Pneu-P-23 vaccine. Refer to Immunocompromised persons for information about immunization of HSCT recipients.

Immunocompetent adults with conditions or lifestyle factors resulting in high risk of IPD should receive 1 dose of Pneu-P-23 vaccine, if not previously received. One dose of Pneu-P-23 vaccine is also recommended for all adults who are residents of long-term care facilities and should be considered for individuals who use illicit drugs.

Some experts also suggest a dose of Pneu-C-13 vaccine, followed by Pneu-P-23 vaccine, for immunocompetent adults with conditions resulting in high risk of IPD as this may theoretically improve antibody response and immunologic memory. However, Pneu-P-23 vaccine is the vaccine of choice for these individuals, and if only one vaccine can be provided, it should be Pneu-P-23 vaccine, because of the greater number of serotypes included in the vaccine.

Adults at highest risk of IPD should also receive 1 booster dose of Pneu-P-23 vaccine refer to Booster doses and re-immunization.

Table 4 – provides recommended schedules for adult immunization with pneumococcal vaccines.

What To Do If Your Child Is Unwell After The Vaccine

Its possible that your child may feel unwell after receiving a dose of the pneumococcal vaccine. Should this happen, there are ways to help ease their symptoms.

If your child has a fever, try to keep them cool. You can do this by providing cool liquids for them to drink and ensuring theyre not wearing too many layers.

Tenderness, redness or discoloration, and swelling at the site of the shot can be eased by applying a cool compress. To do this, wet a clean washcloth with cool water and place it gently on the affected area.

Symptoms like fever and pain at the site of the shot may be alleviated using over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen . Be sure to use the infant formulation and to carefully follow the dosing instructions on the product packaging.

Prior to being approved for use, the safety and effectiveness of all vaccines must be rigorously evaluated in clinical trials. Lets take a look at some of the research into the effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccines.

A evaluated the effectiveness of the PCV13 vaccine in children. It found that:

• The vaccine effectiveness of PCV13 against the 13 pneumococcal strains included in the vaccine was 86 percent.
• The vaccine effectiveness against pneumococcal disease due to any strain of S.pneumoniae was 60.2 percent.
• The effectiveness of PCV13 didnt differ significantly between children with and without underlying health conditions.

The CDC also notes that more than

You shouldnt get the PCV13 vaccine if youre:

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Indication For Pneumovax 23

PNEUMOVAX®23 is a vaccine indicated for active immunization for the prevention of pneumococcal disease caused by the 23 serotypes contained in the vaccine .

PNEUMOVAX 23 is approved for use in persons 50 years of age or older and persons aged 2 years who are at increased risk for pneumococcal disease.

PNEUMOVAX 23 will not prevent disease caused by capsular types of pneumococcus other than those contained in the vaccine.

Who Should Get The Vaccine

People over age 65. As you age, your immune system doesnât work as well as it once did. Youâre more likely to have trouble fighting off a pneumonia infection. All adults over age 65 should get the vaccine.

Those with weakened immune systems. Many diseases can cause your immune system to weaken, so itâs less able to fight off bugs like pneumonia.

If you have heart disease, diabetes, emphysema, asthma, or COPD , youâre more likely to have a weakened immune system, which makes you more likely to get pneumonia.

The same goes for people who receive chemotherapy, people who have had organ transplants, and people with HIV or AIDS.

People who smoke. If youâve smoked for a long time, you could have damage to the small hairs that line the insides of your lungs and help filter out germs. When theyâre damaged, they arenât as good at stopping those bad germs.

Heavy drinkers. If you drink too much alcohol, you may have a weakened immune system. Your white blood cells donât work as well as they do for people with a healthy immune system.

People getting over surgery or a severe illness. If you were in the hospital ICU and needed help breathing with a ventilator, youâre at risk of getting pneumonia. The same is true if youâve just had major surgery or if youâre healing from a serious injury. When your immune system is weak because of illness or injury or because itâs helping you get better from surgery, you canât fight off germs as well as you normally can.

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How Important Is It For An Adult Over Age 65 To Get Vaccinated

It’s very important. If you are over age 65 or have an underlying medical condition that puts you at risk and have not had a pneumococcal vaccination, talk to your doctor and ask to schedule one. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Disease, bacteremia and meningitis caused by invasive pneumococcal disease is responsible for the highest rates of death among the elderly and patients who have underlying medical conditions.

Effectiveness Of The Pneumococcal Vaccine

Children respond very well to the pneumococcal vaccine.

The introduction of this vaccine into the NHS childhood vaccination schedule has resulted in a large reduction in pneumococcal disease.

The pneumococcal vaccine given to older children and adults is thought to be around 50 to 70% effective at preventing pneumococcal disease.

Both types of pneumococcal vaccine are inactivated or “killed” vaccines and do not contain any live organisms. They cannot cause the infections they protect against.

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Who Should Get Immunised Against Pneumococcal Disease

Anyone who wants to protect themselves against pneumococcal disease can talk to their doctor about getting immunised.

Pneumococcal immunisation is recommended for:

• infants and children aged under 5 years
• non-Indigenous adults aged 70 years and over without medical risk conditions for pneumococcal disease
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged under 5 years living in Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 50 years and over without medical risk conditions for pneumococcal disease
• infants under 12 months diagnosed with certain medical risk conditions for pneumococcal disease
• people over 12 months with certain medical risk conditions for pneumococcal disease

There are two types of pneumococcal vaccine provided free under the National Immunisation Program for different age groups and circumstances:

Refer to the NIP schedule for vaccine dosage information. Your doctor or vaccination provider will advise if you or your child have a specified medical risk condition.

Refer to the pneumococcal recommendations in the Australian Immunisation Handbook for more information.

Select Safety Information For Pneumovax 23

Do not administer PNEUMOVAX®23 to individuals with a history of a hypersensitivity reaction to any component of the vaccine.

Defer vaccination with PNEUMOVAX 23 in persons with moderate or severe acute illness.

Use caution and appropriate care in administering PNEUMOVAX 23 to individuals with severely compromised cardiovascular and/or pulmonary function in whom a systemic reaction would pose a significant risk.

Available human data from clinical trials of PNEUMOVAX 23 in pregnancy have not established the presence or absence of a vaccine-associated risk.

Since elderly individuals may not tolerate medical interventions as well as younger individuals, a higher frequency and/or a greater severity of reactions in some older individuals cannot be ruled out.

Persons who are immunocompromised, including persons receiving immunosuppressive therapy, may have a diminished immune response to PNEUMOVAX 23.

PNEUMOVAX 23 may not be effective in preventing pneumococcal meningitis in patients who have chronic cerebrospinal fluid leakage resulting from congenital lesions, skull fractures, or neurosurgical procedures.

For subjects aged 65 years or older in a clinical study, systemic adverse reactions which were determined by the investigator to be vaccine-related were higher following revaccination than following initial vaccination.

Vaccination with PNEUMOVAX 23 may not offer 100% protection from pneumococcal infection.

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Medical Conditions Resulting In High Risk Of Ipd

Table 1: Medical Conditions Resulting in High risk of IPD

Non-immunocompromising conditions

IPD is more common in the winter and spring in temperate climates.

Spectrum of clinical illness

Although asymptomatic upper respiratory tract colonization is common, infection with S. pneumoniae may result in severe disease. IPD is a severe form of infection that occurs when S. pneumoniae invades normally sterile sites, such as the bloodstream or central nervous system. Bacteremia and meningitis are the most common manifestations of IPD in children 2 years of age and younger. Bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia is the most common presentation among adults and is a common complication following influenza. The case fatality rate of bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia is 5% to 7% and is higher among elderly persons. Bacterial spread within the respiratory tract may result in AOM, sinusitis or recurrent bronchitis.

Disease distribution

Worldwide, pneumococcal disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The World Health Organization estimates that almost 500,000 deaths among children aged less than 5 years are attributable to pneumococcal disease each year. In Canada, IPD is most common among the very young and adults over 65 years of age.

The Different Types Of Pneumococcal Vaccine

The type of pneumococcal vaccine you’re given depends on your age and health. There are 2 types.

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is used to vaccinate children under 2 years old as part of the NHS vaccination schedule. It’s known by the brand name Prevenar 13.

Children at risk of pneumococcal infections can have the PPV vaccine from the age of 2 years onwards. The PPV vaccine is not very effective in children under the age of 2.

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How Long Does The Pneumonia Vaccine Last

For most adults, one dose of the pneumonia vaccine should last a lifetime. In other words, you wont usually need to get another dose. This makes it different to the flu vaccine, which is given every year.

For some people, boosters of the pneumonia vaccine will be needed. This will be the case for people who have underlying health conditions that make them high-risk for pneumonia and related conditions. Your doctor will let you know if you need another vaccine.

If youre somebody who needs top-ups of the pneumonia vaccine, youll be able to receive them for free on the NHS.

Preparations Of Pneumococcal Vaccine

There are 2 types of pneumococcal vaccines.

The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine contains 13 purified capsular polysaccharides of S. pneumoniae each is coupled to a nontoxic variant of diphtheria toxin. This vaccine has replaced the 7-valent vaccine PCV13 contains the 7 serotypes in PCV7 plus 6 additional serotypes.

The 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine contains antigens from the 23 most virulent of the 83 subtypes of S. pneumoniae .

Unlike the older PPSV23, PCV13 can stimulate antibody responses in infants. It also seems to confer greater protection against invasive pneumococcal disorders than PPSV23. PPSV23 reduces bacteremia by 56 to 81% in adults overall but is less effective in debilitated older people. It reduces pneumonia incidence.

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Is Pneumonia Dangerous

Pneumonia can be a serious illness with long-term effects, and can lead to other serious health conditions like meningitis as well as a form of blood poisoning called septicaemia. In some groups of people, such as people over 65, babies and those with long-term health conditions, pneumonia can be dangerous and even fatal.

Why It Is Used

Pneumococcus is a type of bacteria that can cause severe infections, such as pneumonia, meningitis, and blood infections . These infections can be serious and can even cause death, especially in people who have impaired immune systems, older adults, and children younger than 2 years of age.

Doctors use two types of pneumococcal vaccines for routine immunization: pneumococcal conjugate or pneumococcal polysaccharide . The type of vaccine used depends on a persons age.

• Pneumococcal conjugate
• PCV is recommended for routine use in babies who get 3 or 4 doses depending on your provincial recommendations.
• Children from 1 to 18 years old may be recommended to get an extra dose if they did not get all the doses as a baby. They may also need an extra dose if they have certain medical conditions that place them at high risk for infection with pneumococcus.
• The vaccine may be recommended for adults at high risk for infection with pneumococcus. This recommendation depends on the medical condition the adult has and on provincial recommendations.

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