Pneumonia Vaccine

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Pneumonia Vaccine

Question:

Is it true that you have to get a pneumonia vaccine every seven years?

Answer:

No, it's not true, although one repeat vaccination is recommended for some people.

The "pneumonia vaccine" protects against one type of bacteria, called pneumococcus, which is one common cause of pneumonia. After it reaches the lungs, the bacterium can spread into the blood and elsewhere in the body, such as the brain, where it can cause meningitis. This spread to the blood, brain and elsewhere is called "invasive" infection.

Pneumococcus infections kill 40,000 people a year in the United States. The vaccine could have prevented at least half of those cases. That's why many doctors agree with me that all adults over age 50 should get the vaccine.

The people who should get a second vaccination (no sooner than five years after the first shot) include:

• Those who got the first shot before they reached age 65

• Those whose immune systems have been weakened by disease (from cancers, AIDS, and probably diabetes) or by medicines that suppress the immune system

There is no recommendation that people get a repeat vaccination every 7 years.

Incidentally, I'm often asked if a person can get a pneumonia vaccine at the same time as a flu shot, another vaccination that protects the lungs against infection, in this case against the flu virus. The answer is yes, although the shots should be given into different muscles.

Anthony Komaroff, M.D., is professor of medicine and editor-in-chief of Harvard Health Publications at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Komaroff also is senior physician and was formerly director of the Division of General Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Komaroff has served on various advisory committees to the federal government, and is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Last updated:	July 20, 2009