loader image
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
75.6 F
McAllen
- Advertisement -

Are you 65 or older? Get two vaccinations against pneumonia

Translate to Spanish or other 102 languages!

Older adults who received pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13), which prevents acquisition of certain pneumococcal strains experienced 35% lower risk of COVID 19 diagnosis. Image for illustration purposes

Mega Doctor News

- Advertisement -

By Gregory Curfman, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Former Editor-in-Chief, Harvard Health Publishing

If you or a loved one is age 65 or older, getting vaccinated against pneumonia is a good idea — so good that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that everyone in this age group get vaccinated against pneumonia twice.

This new recommendation is based on findings from a large clinical trial called CAPiTA, which were published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

- Advertisement -

Streptococcus pneumoniae, sometimes just called pneumococcus, is a common bacterium that can cause serious lung infections like pneumonia. It can also cause invasive infections of the bloodstream, the tissues covering the brain and spinal cord (meningitis), and other organs and tissues. Older individuals are especially prone to being infected by Pneumococcus, and these infections are often deadly. While the recently authorized COVID-19 vaccines remain the most important strategy for preventing COVID-19, investigators found that older adults who received pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13), which prevents acquisition of certain pneumococcal strains experienced 35% lower risk of COVID 19 diagnosis than adults who did not receive the PCV13 vaccine (March 10, 2021).

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

More Articles

STHS Children’s Webinar on Bullying/Cyberbullying Prevention, Oct. 15th

Considered serious public health concerns, bullying and cyberbullying continue to rise at a concerning rate in the United States, resulting in widespread negative consequences for victims, perpetrators and bystanders.

STHS Children’s Receives $14,150 Donation from Dutch Bros

Mega Doctor News Planned or unplanned, a hospital stay can be nerve-wracking for...

STC & Region One ESC Open More Doors to High School Completion

Homeschooled for most of her life, Edcouch-Elsa senior Ana Trevino put her education on hold two years ago to care for her parents as they battled cancer and to step in as a second mother to her six younger siblings.

Harlingen’s Linda Burke, D.D.S. appointed to State Board of Dental Examiners

Linda Burke, D.D.S. of Harlingen is a pediatric dentist and owner of Burke Children’s Dentistry and president of Platinum Surgery Center.
- Advertisement -
×