PROTECT AGAINST PNEUMOCOCCAL PNEUMONIA

PROTECT AGAINST PNEUMOCOCCAL PNEUMONIA

PROTECT AGAINST PNEUMOCOCCAL PNEUMONIA

Vaccination can help protect against pneumococcal disease.1

The Centre for Health Protection recommends the use of pneumococcal vaccines in persons aged 65 years and above and those with high-risk conditions.*2

*High-risk conditions include2: History of invasive pneumococcal disease, immunocompromised states (eg, asplenia, HIV infection, cancer or organ transplant recipient), chronic disease (eg, chronic heart disease, chronic lung disease, kidney or liver disease, diabetes), with cochlear implants, amongst others

Benefits of pneumococcal vaccines

You can’t get pneumococcal pneumonia from getting vaccinated because pneumococcal vaccines do not contain live bacteria.3

You can’t get pneumococcal pneumonia from getting vaccinated because pneumococcal vaccines do not contain live bacteria.3

Vaccination can help protect you from pneumococcal disease.1

Vaccination can help protect you from pneumococcal disease.1

You do not have to get vaccinated every year.2,3

You do not have to get vaccinated every year.2,3

True or False?

You can’t get pneumococcal pneumonia by getting vaccinated.

True

False

True

That’s right.

You can’t get pneumococcal pneumonia from a vaccine because pneumococcal vaccines do not contain live bacteria.3

Understand your risk

False

The truth is you can’t get pneumococcal pneumonia from getting vaccinated
because pneumococcal vaccines do not contain live bacteria.3

Talk to your doctor

There are different types of pneumococcal vaccines in the market,

including polysaccharide (eg, 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine) and conjugate (eg, 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine) vaccines.4 These vaccines can help boost the immunity of your body to pneumococcal pneumonia. 5,6 When Streptococcus pneumoniae invades, your body can produce an immune response to defend it due to previous pneumococcal vaccination, protecting you against pneumococcal diseases.5,6

However, because polysaccharide vaccines are composed of free polysaccharides, they can only produce a short-term immune response and do not induce long-term immunity.5,7-9 On the other hand, conjugate vaccines are polysaccharides conjugated to a carrier protein, hence they can stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies and induce long-term immunological memory.5,7–9 Therefore, conjugate vaccines may provide longer-lasting protection than polysaccharide vaccines.5,7

Talk to your doctor

Talk to your
doctor

Pneumococcal vaccines are prescription only medications. The effectiveness and side effects to medications may vary among individuals. Please consult your doctor or your pharmacist for more information.

References

  1. National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. What is pneumococcal disease? Available at: www.nfid.org/infectious-disease/pneumococcal/. Accessed Jul 2023.
  2. Centre for Health Protection Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases. Updated recommendations on the use of pneumococcal vaccines for high-risk individuals. Available at: www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/
    updated_recommendations_on_the_use_of_pneumococcal_vaccines_amended_120116_clean_2.pdf. Accessed Jul 2023.
  3. Immunize.org. Pneumococcus: Questions and answers. Available at: www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4213.pdf. Accessed Jul 2023.
  4. 香港特別行政區政府衛生署衛生防護中心. 肺炎球菌疫苗接種常見問題. Available at: www.chp.gov.hk/tc/features/100770.html. Accessed Jul 2023.
  5. Pollard AJ, Perrett KP, Beverley PC. Nat Rev Immunol 2009;9:213-220.
  6. National Health Services. Pneumococcal vaccine overview. Available at: www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/pneumococcal-vaccination/. Accessed Jul 2023.
  7. Essink B, et al. Clin Infect Dis 2022;75:390-398.
  8. Golos M, et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2019;2019:CD012306.
  9. Rappuoli R, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019;116:14-16.