2023-11-14 13:19:27
40% of pneumonia in adults requires hospitalization, more than enough reason to try to avoid the disease with the available means: without going any further, the vaccine.
Respiratory diseases were the third cause of death in Spain in 2022, with a total of 42,979 deaths. Among them, the flu, covid-19 and the disease caused by the pneumococcus bacteria have a preventive vaccine. The Spanish Association of Vaccinology (AEV) has launched the campaign The best plan for this winter to promote annual vaccination against flu and covid-19, and the updating of anti-pneumococcal vaccination, among those over 60 years of age and older, as well as as in vulnerable people.
On the occasion of World Pneumonia Day, the president of the AEV, Jaime Pérez, reminds this medium that epidemiological studies have estimated hospitalizations caused by pneumococcal disease at 10,000 last year.
This will be the first post-pandemic winter in full “normality”: without obligation to wear a mask, although, as Jaime Pérez points out, “part of the population, especially the vulnerable, has become aware and at least in certain closed spaces they are choosing for wearing the mask.” The specialist highlights that the mask is a useful preventive measure in respiratory transmitted diseases and that it is added to vaccines.
Continuing with pneumonia, the president of the AEV highlights that, in the pediatric population, it is estimated that the national coverage of the pneumococcal vaccine exceeds 95%. The scenario for the elderly is different: “There are no national coverage rates; The autonomous communities that publish data place it at 50-60%, and in some cases even a little lower. The optimal objective would be for vaccination to reach 80%. There is still a long way to go,” he acknowledges.
It must be taken into account that 40% of pneumonia in adults requires hospitalization. The Ministry’s calendar recommends vaccination for those over 65 years of age, although some autonomous communities advance it to 60 years of age. Jaime Pérez clarifies that in the adult population “even if they are vaccinated, they may have to update their vaccination based on the current recommendations in their community, which is why we encourage them to consult with their health center.”
Co-administration
The pneumococcus vaccine can be administered throughout the year, although diseases caused by this bacteria are more common during the winter.
It is not necessary that it coincide with the flu and covid vaccination, which generally runs from the month of October until the end of the quarter, although the ideal is to get vaccinated between October and November.
However, if desired, there is no problem in co-administering the three vaccinations: double covid and flu, in one arm and pneumococcus in the other.
“The co-administration of flu and Covid-19 vaccines is advisable, and in fact, combined vaccines are already being developed that we hope to have available in a couple of years,” referring to double Covid and flu vaccines, but also to research on triple vaccines for covid, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Vaccination against various diseases
The specialist emphasizes this double vaccination in which the indication for both vaccines “coincides in the same people; “It is the best way to protect yourself as soon as possible and avoid visits to the health center, and you avoid the risk of losing the opportunity.”
In those individuals who, in addition to this double vaccination, must do so against pneumococcus, “there is nothing wrong with receiving it that same day: the adverse effects will be very similar to those of the individual vaccination, there is no enhancement, at most a slight increase,” point. And remember that we naturally assume that children at four months of age are vaccinated in the same vaccination event with a hexavalent vaccine (in addition to the two vaccines against meningococcus and another against pneumococcus) to protect them from six different diseases. Sonia Moreno
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