pneumonia vaccinations
TRANSCRIPT
Pneumonia Vaccinations
“Pneumococcal vaccination can resolve complications arising from pneumonia”
Pneumonia is a common lung infection caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites. It causes
headaches, fever and cough making it hard for a person to breathe. Most of the time, pneumonia can be
treated at home within two to three weeks but in severe cases, the patient may be hospitalised. Visit an
Apollo Clinic near you to get a check-up done or to get yourself vaccinated against pneumonia.
Pneumonia can be managed at home by following three simple steps like:
Drink lots of fluids
Get lots of rest
Avoid the use of cough medicines
There are also vaccinations available to treat this ailment that is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus
pneumoniae that also causes blood poisoning and meningitis. The pneumococcal infection can affect
people of all ages and getting a pneumococcal vaccination can resolve complications arising from these
infections. Babies and those above the age of 65 must get vaccinated against pneumonia. The vaccine
used on babies is called pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and protects babies against 13 different
types of pneumococcal infections. It is administered in three batches in the following intervals:
Two months old
Four months old
13 months old
For those above the age of 65, pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) is given to protect against
infections. PVV protects people against 23 types of pneumococcal infections.
There are some instances where getting pneumonia vaccination may not be possible or advisable. They
are:
Vaccine allergy - If your child had reacted badly to any vaccination previously, it may not be a
good idea to forcefully get the child vaccinated again without consulting a GP first. But if the
child only had a mild rash or fever, it is alright to get the vaccination done.
Fever - If your child is generally unwell with a high temperature, then it might be a good idea to
postpone the vaccination.
Pregnancy - Though it is believed that getting a pneumonia jab is safe for pregnant women, it
might be safer to wait till the birth of the baby.
There will be a few common side effects like fever, rash at the injection site and even some swelling but
these are temporary and will disappear in a few days.
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