Killing more than
60,000 Americans each year, pneumonia is one of the top five
killers of people aged 65 years and older.
The elderly often
receive pneumonia immunizations, followed by a pneumonia vaccine
booster shot five years later, to protect them for the disease.
However, research has indicated that the booster shot does
not protect people for life as was previously thought.
Initially it was
thought that one shot of the pneumonia vaccine, first introduced
in the 1980s, would protect a patient for life. Later studies
found that this was not the case so experts recommended that
high-risk patients get booster shots five years after the
first vaccination.
However, in a study
of 67 elderly individuals, it was found that even the booster
shot does not offer complete protection. Researchers measured
antibody levels after the participants had received an initial
dose of the pneumococcal vaccine and then gave each individual
a booster shot. Antibody levels were measured one month, six
months and one year later.
Levels of the patients’
protective antibodies rose significantly one month after the
booster shot, however by the end of the year levels had dropped
to equal or below the starting points.
These results indicate
that the vaccine no longer protected the participants after
one year.
Researchers suggest
the possibility of vaccinating high-risk patients every year
or every other year, though the safety of administering pneumococcal
shots to this population is not known. They also recommended
that a more effective vaccine should be developed.
Elderly patients
and others at high risk should talk to their doctors about
getting a vaccination or a booster. The pneumococcal bacteria,
which cause most pneumonias, can also spur blood infections
such as meningitis. Many of these bacteria have become antibiotic-resistant,
increasing their danger because they are more difficult to
treat.
Journal
American Geriatrics Society February 2003;51(2):240-5
References
[1] Richard Kent Zimmerman, MD, MPH. et.al. Routine Vaccines
Across the Life Span, 2001. J of Fam. Pr. Oct. 2001,Vol.
50, No. 10.
[2]
138. US Department of Health and Human Services, Public
Health Service: Healthy People 2000. Washington, DC, Government
Printing Office, 1990
[3]
http://www.census.gov/
population/ www/socdemo/ age/ppl-147.html
[4]
AWP=Average Wholesale Price. List of Immunizing Agents and
Average Wholesale Prices for 2002. PA Bulletin Doc. No.
02-1897. http://
www.medscape.com/ content/ 2002/00/44/19/ 441921/441921_tab.html
