Pneumonia vaccine

[DachsieMom]

I have a st Jude aortic valve. Wondering if anyone with a mechanical valve gets the pneumonia vaccine. I’m only 46, but my husband just received the pneumonia vaccine thinking it may provide some protection against Coronavirus (or the resulting pneumonia) since he has a very poor immune system, and suggested I get the vaccine as well. He received Prevnar 13, and will get the other vaccine ( something 23... can’t recall the name) in one year. I do get the flu vaccine annually. Thoughts? Is the pneumonia vaccine safe with a valve?

 

[dick0236]

........... Is the pneumonia vaccine safe with a valve?

I received the pneumonia vaccine in 2012 and pneumonia plus vaccine in 2016.......with no aftereffects. Good to know it might be helpful against Coronavinus. I also get my flu shots annually with no problem. I've always been a believer in preventative medicine.

 

[Warrick]

Ive been going to get the 2x vaccines for a while now as Iv had atypical pneumonia a couple of times since AVR, need to get off my butt and get it sorted.

Its not a live vaccine so its safe for valvers,
Although it does not give protection against corona, vaccination against respiratory illnesses is highly recommended to protect your health. Best protection is hand washing often.

 

[pellicle]

gotta die one day, that's a fact

 

[DachsieMom]

What is the 2x vaccine?

 

[Warrick]

Sorry this is what I meant as in there are 2 vaccines available-
“The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine(PCV13) and the pneumococcalpolysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) protect against pneumococcalinfections.”

 

[rich01]

When I got the 2nd pneumonia shot my arm hurt like heck for a few days. That appears to be a fairly common side effect that probably won't tell you about.

I don't think the vaccine helps with coronavirus because I believe that it is viral pneumonia people are getting and the vaccine is for bacterial pneumonia. I might be wrong about this, but I had the same thought and looked it up a couple of months ago.

 

[Eva]

I took my pneumonia vaccine as my doctor recommended it. My arm and shoulder hurt for a couple of days, then back to normal!

 

[ScribeWithALancet]

Sorry this is what I meant as in there are 2 vaccines available-
“The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine(PCV13) and the pneumococcalpolysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) protect against pneumococcalinfections.”

Our pulmonary doctor told us that the PPSV23 vaccine only conferred very brief immunity and was no longer recommended and had us get the PVC13 vaccine for children. My wife and I then received the PVC13 vaccine (several years ago) and were sick for a month afterwards. So, it was probably very effective. The medical research literature says that it provides long term immunity.

The following year, he said the CDC had changed its guidelines and was recommending it and I should get it. I asked him if it had been improved and he said "no" that it still had only the several months immunity but it was being recommended as a precautionary measure.

Ask the question about how long the immunity lasts. It has been several years so maybe they have improved it.

The numbers 13 and 23 are how many types of pneumonia each vaccine is SUPPOSED to protect against. Also, ask them for the mercury free vaccine version. No point in getting more mercury then you have to.

Walk in His Peace,
Scribe With A Lancet

 

[Zoltania]

After my mitral valve repair surgery in August 2015, Kaiser gave me the Pneumovax 23 immunization before I was discharged from the hospital. Apparently this was the standard of care, at least at that time.

 

[ScribeWithALancet]

After my mitral valve repair surgery in August 2015, Kaiser gave me the Pneumovax 23 immunization before I was discharged from the hospital. Apparently this was the standard of care, at least at that time.

Kaiser does follow Medicare and CDC recommendations for its Standard of Care. Unfortunately, Medicare and the CDC are not always transparent in why they make reccomendations. Sometimes the committees that they use are stacked with MDs from Universities and Big Pharma companies and these MDs reflect the biases of their employers. This stacking is not necessarily deliberate. Universities and Big Pharma can afford to give their staff professional development time for these activities. Self employed MDs usually cannot afford the time off. One of my uncles who was a self employed engineer said that for him, vacations were a time of maximum stress.
Kaiser does not pay for professional development time for their doctors (At least my regional Kaiser does not). Thus, I suspect that their doctors do not get to serve on committees either.
The economist, Milton Friedman, said that regulatory bodies always develop advisory committees for helping develop rules and research. Initially, these committees are always stacked with activists. Over time, they evolve to be stacked with representatives of those being regulated (Hospitals, Medical Schools, Manufacturers of drugs and Manufacturers of Medical Equipment) because those organizations "have the most skin in the game".
One has to do one's own research at PubMed ( (the National Library of Medicine (NLM) of the National Institute of Health (NIH) ) to try to figure out whether the different guidelines are suitable for you. Unfortunately, Kaiser does not do that research. Sometimes, the answer is that while they are suitable for the general population (say of Mitral Valve Prolapse patients) they are not suitable for you as an individual.
As a starting point for Pubmed -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4778694/which is a 2016 Jan-Feb article on "A Review of Pneumococcal Vaccines: Current Polysaccharide Vaccine Recommendations and Future Protein Antigens"
On the right side of the page, PubMed gives related articles and articles which cite that article. Caution - you can get lost forever in this forest of data. It is as bad as the Internet. : - )

Walk in His Peace,
Scribe With A Lancet

 

[DachsieMom]

So to close the loop, my cardio said to get the vaccine but deferred to my pcp regarding which vaccine. PCP said pneumovax 23. However, it turns out that Minute Clinic only starts with Prevnar 13. The nurse said I should get Prevnar 13 today, and then the pneumovax 23 in 8 weeks as we are considered immunocompromised (unlike other people, who wait one year for the Pneumovax 23). So, that’s what I did and will get the other vaccine in 8 weeks.

 

[rich01]

So to close the loop, my cardio said to get the vaccine but deferred to my pcp regarding which vaccine. PCP said pneumovax 23. However, it turns out that Minute Clinic only starts with Prevnar 13. The nurse said I should get Prevnar 13 today, and then the pneumovax 23 in 8 weeks as we are considered immunocompromised (unlike other people, who wait one year for the Pneumovax 23). So, that’s what I did and will get the other vaccine in 8 weeks.

When I got mine, I was told Prevnar 13 and then 1 year later Prevnar 23. I tried to get Prevnar 23 after 11 months and was told Medicare wouldn't cover it until after 12 months.