Vaccines and Preventable Diseases:
Pneumococcal Disease In-Short
Description
A type of bacteria
Symptoms
Pneumococcal pneumonia (high fever, cough, and shortness of breath), bacteremia (fever and feeling generally poorly), and meningitis (fever, headache, thinking slowly or not clearly)
Complications
Death (one of the most common causes of death in America from a vaccine-preventable disease)
Transmission
Pneumococcus is in many people's noses and throats and is spread by coughing, sneezing, or contact with respiratory secretions. Why it suddenly invades the body and causes disease is unknown.
Vaccine
Pneumococcal vaccine is very good at preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and death. However it is not guaranteed to prevent all symptoms in all people.
Who Needs to be Vaccinated?
Does my child need the PCV7 vaccine? Updated May 2009
- Infants and Children Under 2 Years of Age
- PCV is routinely given as a series of 4 doses, one dose at each of these ages: 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, and 12-15 months.
- Children who miss their shots at these ages should still get the vaccine. The number of doses and the intervals between doses will depend on the child’s age. Ask your healthcare provider for details.
- Children 2 through 4 Years of Age
- Healthy children between their 2nd and 5th birthdays who have not completed the PCV series should get 1 dose.
- Children with medical conditions such as the following should get 1 or 2 doses of PCV, if they have not already completed the 4-dose series. Ask your healthcare provider for details.
- sickle cell disease,
- a damaged spleen or no spleen,
- cochlear implants,
- HIV/AIDS or other diseases that affect the immune system (such as diabetes, cancer, or liver disease), or
- chronic heart or lung disease...
- or children who take medications that affect the immune system, such as chemotherapy or steroids...
- All adults 65 years of age and older.
- Anyone 2 through 64 years of age who has a long-term health problem such as: heart disease, lung disease, sickle cell disease, diabetes, alcoholism, cirrhosis, leaks of cerebrospinal fluid or cochlear implant
- Anyone 2 through 64 years of age who has a disease or condition that lowers the body’s resistance to infection, such as: Hodgkin’s disease; lymphoma or leukemia; kidney failure; multiple myeloma; nephrotic syndrome; HIV infection or AIDS; damaged spleen, or no spleen; organ transplant.
- Anyone 2 through 64 years of age who is taking a drug or treatment that lowers the body’s resistance to infection, such as: long-term steroids, certain cancer drugs, radiation therapy
- Any adult 19 through 64 years of age who is a smoker or has asthma
PCV may be given at the same time as other vaccines.
For additional details, consult the PCV Vaccine Information Statement 
(2 pages) (compliant) as well as the Child Immunization Schedule.
As an adult, do I need the PPSV23 vaccine? Updated May 2009
PPSV may be less effective for some people, especially those with lower resistance to infection.
But these people should still be vaccinated, because they are more likely to have serious complications if they get pneumococcal disease.
Children who often get ear infections, sinus
infections, or other upper respiratory diseases, but
who are otherwise healthy, do not need to get PPSV
because it is not effective against those conditions.
For additional details, consult the PPSV23 Vaccine Information Statement (2 pages) (compliant), the Adult Immunization Schedule, and the ACIP Provisional Recommendations for Use of Penumococcal Vaccines, Oct 2008.
Return to main Pneumoccal Vaccination page
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Content last reviewed on January 6, 2009
Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases