Pneumonia shots?

[billethkid]

I think we had one 10 + years ago.
Before I do some googling I thought I would see what some of you did/know.

How often does one need to get one?

[virgind]

5 years I think

[rubicon]

It is my understanding that if you had a pneumonia shot at 65 or older you need it only once. However they recommend a booster every five years.

My wife and I are planning on getting the booster

[Shimpy]

It is my understanding that if you had a pneumonia shot at 65 or older you need it only once. However they recommend a booster every five years.


When I got mine at Walgreens I was told since I'm over 65 I won't ever need one again. That was 2 years ago. Now the Villages Health says I need one because that was the old type and they are now giving a newer vaccine.

[Carla B]

I understood from The Villages Health that the new vaccine, Prevnar 13, covers different strains of bacteria from the old one.

[rubicon]

When I got mine at Walgreens I was told since I'm over 65 I won't ever need one again. That was 2 years ago. Now the Villages Health says I need one because that was the old type and they are now giving a newer vaccine.

Hi Shimpy: I was told the same thing by a Walgreens Pharamcists . We got our immunization at age 65. We were told do it every five years. We inquired at Walgreens when we were getting flu shots and told that we didn't need another.

However just the other day was at my doctor and he stated I needed a booster.

It appear logical that since a big concern for seniors is pneumonia that up-to-date medical protection?

[golfing eagles]

The recommendation for the pneumovax vaccine was one shot after age 65. Certain conditions necessitated a shot prior to 65 (chronic illnesses such as DM, CAD,COPD, and people post spleenectomy), in which case a second shot at age 65, given at least 5 years after the first was indicated.
Recently, this was changed to recommend prevnar 13 as a booster to all those who had pneumovax, and to anyone over 50, although insurance is loathe to pay for it at that age
I'm personally not too sure about the rationale for the prevnar re-vaccination. Pneumovax covers 28 strains of pneumococcal pneumonia, prevnar covers 13, and to my understanding there is only one unique strain in the prevnar accounting for less than 2% of all CAP(community acquired pneumonia). But the prevnar recommendation is now standard of care, so all physicians are held to it; Get used to hearing about prevnar at you physician visit
One more thing---don't think your doctor is getting rich off this. In NY, our vaccine cost is $165 not including syringe, needle, alcohol pad, band aid and nurse time, the average reimbursement is $169.12. The only entity making money is some drug stores that charge $240, give YOU a receipt for YOU to submit to insurance, and then YOU get back $169.12

[John_W]

I was in the VA Hospital in Gainesville January of 2013 with an auto-immune problem (swollen legs from psoriatic arthritis) and was given a pneumonia shot and was told it was good for 10 years. This past July I turned 65 and I enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plan with the Villages Pinellas office. During my first visit in July the doctor gave me a pneumonia shot even after I had informed them of the earlier shot. They said their policy was everybody that turns 65 get the shot and it is a newer vaccine and covers more strains. The cost to me was zero.

[golfing eagles]

I was in the VA Hospital in Gainesville January of 2013 with an auto-immune problem (swollen legs from psoriatic arthritis) and was given a pneumonia shot and was told it was good for 10 years. This past July I turned 65 and I enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plan with the Villages Pinellas office. During my first visit in July the doctor gave me a pneumonia shot even after I had informed them of the earlier shot. They said their policy was everybody that turns 65 get the shot and it is a newer vaccine and covers more strains. The cost to me was zero.

It is a newer vaccine, it covers less strains (13 vs 23), most of the strains are common to both. Even before prevnar came out, there was a lot of confusion as to the vaccination schedule. Both the manufacturer of pneumovax and the FDA recommended 1 shot at age 65, and a booster at age 65 for those who had been vaccinated previously but at least 5 years after the initial dose. PEROID. This was directly from the manufacturer whose representative came to our conference room and cleared up the facts. This recommendation is still on the CDC website.
Because of the 5 year caveat for re-vaccination, there were all kinds of doctors , especially pulmonologists "inventing" their own schedule. I've heard patients were told 5 years, 10 years, 12 years and even every 3 years. Most of these funny schedules came from doctors who treated kids with cystic fibrosis, which is an extremely specialized circumstance not applicable to the general population. There are patients between 2 and 64 years old with certain diseases that pneumovax is recommended for.
Now enter prevnar 13. For whatever reason, the CDC has recommended everyone under 5 , over 64 and those in between with high risk disease get this vaccine, even if they already had the other one. The manufacturer with FDA approval recommends it as a preventative for anyone over 50
End of story, just the facts presented. And btw, for those who love to argue on this site, besides becoming a full time resident of TV shortly, I am a professor of Internal Medicine at SUNY Upstate College of Medicine. I said this not to be arrogant, just to show I am credentialed as an expert .

[2BNTV]

It is a newer vaccine, it covers less strains (13 vs 23), most of the strains are common to both. Even before prevnar came out, there was a lot of confusion as to the vaccination schedule. Both the manufacturer of pneumovax and the FDA recommended 1 shot at age 65, and a booster at age 65 for those who had been vaccinated previously but at least 5 years after the initial dose. PEROID. This was directly from the manufacturer whose representative came to our conference room and cleared up the facts. This recommendation is still on the CDC website.
Because of the 5 year caveat for re-vaccination, there were all kinds of doctors , especially pulmonologists "inventing" their own schedule. I've heard patients were told 5 years, 10 years, 12 years and even every 3 years. Most of these funny schedules came from doctors who treated kids with cystic fibrosis, which is an extremely specialized circumstance not applicable to the general population. There are patients between 2 and 64 years old with certain diseases that pneumovax is recommended for.
Now enter prevnar 13. For whatever reason, the CDC has recommended everyone under 5 , over 64 and those in between with high risk disease get this vaccine, even if they already had the other one. The manufacturer with FDA approval recommends it as a preventative for anyone over 50
End of story, just the facts presented. And btw, for those who love to argue on this site, besides becoming a full time resident of TV shortly, I am a professor of Internal Medicine at SUNY Upstate College of Medicine. I said this not to be arrogant, just to show I am credentialed as an expert .

Sounds like a good idea to get the booster. My old doctor said the original shot wouldn't keep you from getting pneumonia but it will keep you from dying from it.

That's why I nicknamed him, Dr. Death. :D

[golfing eagles]

Sounds like a good idea to get the booster. My old doctor said the original shot wouldn't keep you from getting pneumonia but it will keep you from dying from it.

That's why I nicknamed him, Dr. Death. :D

Probably a good nickname, given the utter stupidity of his comment. The whole idea of a vaccine is to PREVENT the disease. Once you get it anyway (remember even the most effective vaccines are only about 95% effective), your chances of dying from it depend on a whole lot of factors, but to my knowledge, prior vaccination is not one of them. BTW, the efficacy of pneumovax (I don't know about prevnar) wanes with age---about 87% effective in your 50's, dwindles to 18% at age 90 (This info is from the study on the product insert)

[Shimpy]

And btw, for those who love to argue on this site, besides becoming a full time resident of TV shortly, I am a professor of Internal Medicine at SUNY Upstate College of Medicine. I said this not to be arrogant, just to show I am credentialed as an expert .

I could tell from your posts that you have above average knowledge of medicine and figured you were a doctor and appreciate your input. My question is since it is hard to remember when you last got a shot, can harm be done if you got too many shots or shots too close together?

[golfing eagles]

I could tell from your posts that you have above average knowledge of medicine and figured you were a doctor and appreciate your input. My question is since it is hard to remember when you last got a shot, can harm be done if you got too many shots or shots too close together?

Not really, it's not like you're going to get them every other week. Your medical record should have the date of administration of your vaccines (as well as the lot number, manufacturer, and site of injection) Even if you received it at a drug store, they usually send a notice to your doctor. In our area, Walgreen's and Rite Aid send notices, Walmart does not, CVS sometimes, and Kinney's is doing it now also. Make sure you get your annual flu vaccine, influenza is the only infectious disease still in the top ten causes of death. Zostavax (shingles vaccine) is recommended for anyone over 50, CDC says 60. keep tetanus up to date (every 10 years) and Tdap at least one of those times, especially if you are going to have close contact with infants under 6 months of age.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/downloads/adult/adult-combined-schedule-bw.pdf

[blueash]

There is a significant difference in the Pneumovax 23 vs the Prevnar 13. Only the Prevnar product is a conjugated vaccine. That means as part of the manufacture process a separate antigen is included into the Prevnar which greatly enhances the body's ability to respond to and develop resistance to the 13 types of pneumonia included. The Pneumovax is not conjugated thus has a much lower ability to make the body recognize and react. In fact the Pneumovax is not even licensed for use in children under 24 months as they don't have any useful response whereas the Prevnar 13 is given as part of the routine infant series beginning at 2 months. So.... it is not just a question of how many strains in the shot, it is also how vigorously will your body react and benefit from the immunization. For more explanation

https://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/pharmacy/pdf/Clinical-Pharmacy-Forum-II-6.pdf

[rubicon]

Does anyone know if it is a problem to receive both the flu and the pneumonia shot together?

[golfing eagles]

Does anyone know if it is a problem to receive both the flu and the pneumonia shot together?

None whatsoever, administer them together all the time.

As far as prevnar being a conjugated vaccine, this is true. The theory is that this will enhance the EFFICACY of the vaccine, especially given the poor rate of immunity with advanced age from pneumovax. Good data on this is still pending, let's hope it's true, especially for those 80+ that never had a pneumonia vaccine

[golfing eagles]

Does anyone know if it is a problem to receive both the flu and the pneumonia shot together?

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION

PNEUMOVAX and flu shot can be given together. The efficacy of PRENAR is reduced when given with the flu vaccine, so it depends on which pneumonia vaccine you get

[Sandtrap328]

Don't forget to schedule a Shingles shot, too. If you had chicken pox, you could get shingles AND you do not want that!!! I speak from first hand knowledge.