This Might Be a Good Time to Consider the Pneumovax

Published

Specializes in Too many to list.

Canadians should consider pneumonia shot in addition to vaccine, experts say

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Canadians+should+consider+pneumonia+shot+addition+vaccine+experts/2053552/story.html

Public health officials issued a call Wednesday for at-risk Canadians to consider getting another flu-related vaccine this fall, this one to protect them from the bacteria that causes common complications of the seasonal and H1N1 flu viruses.

Pneumococcus is the bacteria responsible for pneumonia, sinusitis, meningitis, bronchitis and other illnesses and infections that most often surface in very young children, the elderly and certain high-risk groups. They commonly coincide with influenza viruses.

A report released Wednesday in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that nearly one-third of 77 patients who died from H1N1 had a co-infection with pneumococcus and that it likely contributed to their death. The CDC said the findings underscore the importance of pneumococcal vaccination for those at increased risk of infection. Canadian health officials echoed that message in their weekly news conference.

"It is important," chief public health officer Dr. David Butler-Jones said.

Why do we even worry about pneumonia these days, you might well ask? Because sometimes it is extremely difficult to treat despite everything that we know, and all that we have to treat it with, it can still be a deadly complication. The pneumovax is just one more way of protecting yourself or your loved ones.

https://allnurses.com/pandemic-flu-forum/swine-flu-will-427890.html

Think about it. It's cheap insurance. The Reveres at Effect Measure are recommending it for everyone, not just the groups mentioned in the Canadian article. If you read through these threads below, you will see case after case of pneumonia in people that were otherwise normally healthy. This is not to say that all cases were preventable by

taking the pneumovax as some of these might have been viral pneumonias.

https://allnurses.com/pandemic-flu-forum/no-prior-existing-400466.html

https://allnurses.com/pandemic-flu-forum/whats-happening-now-422611.html

https://allnurses.com/pandemic-flu-forum/evidence-swine-flu-399332.html

https://allnurses.com/pandemic-flu-forum/ecmo-will-we-410682.html

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion