# Coronavirus, pneumonia and pneumonia vaccines **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 4, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-pneumonia-and-pneumonia-vaccines/848932 "2020-03-04T18:14:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-pneumonia-and-pneumonia-vaccines/848932/1 "2020-03-04T18:14:28Z")
It’s my understanding (and of course correct me if I’m wrong) that the vast majority – if not all – of deaths from coronavirus are actually due to pneumococcal disease. Vaccines for pneumococcal disease (commonly called pneumonia vaccines) protect the patient from some but not all serotypes of pneumococcal disease. So – how much protection does getting a pneumonia vaccine give you from dying from COVID-19? Is there any data yet on this? I’m looking for some cite that says something along the lines of “Pneumococcal disease that arises from COVID–19 is in xx% of cases of serotypes a, b or c. PCV13 protects/does not protect recipients from these serotypes.” TLDR: To what extent if any does getting a pneumonia vaccine protect people from death due to coronovirus? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-pneumonia-and-pneumonia-vaccines/848932/2 "2020-03-04T19:33:09Z")
A vaccine against pneumococcus will prevent pneumonia caused by pneumococcus. It won’t prevent pneumonia caused by covid19. Pneumonia isn’t a disease; it’s a symptom, which can be caused by many different diseases. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-pneumonia-and-pneumonia-vaccines/848932/3 "2020-03-04T20:10:17Z")
Does the OP really mean a secondary pneumococcal infection? If so then the pneumococcus vaccine would certainly be effective. But I don’t think that’s the case. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-pneumonia-and-pneumonia-vaccines/848932/4 "2020-03-04T20:18:31Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Does the OP really mean a secondary pneumococcal infection? If so then the pneumococcus vaccine would certainly be effective. But I don’t think that’s the case. I did mean a secondary infection. I take it though that’s not how this works? I had (probably rashly) assumed that since deaths seem to be primarily among people whose immune systems are compromised (due to age, disease, etc.) that the coronavirus weakened the immune system to the point where they could no longer stave off a garden-variety pneumococcal infection If this is not how it works, how does the coronavirus patient come down with pneumonia? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-pneumonia-and-pneumonia-vaccines/848932/5 "2020-03-04T20:38:20Z")
> [@](#): > > “Because our body senses all of those viruses as basically foreign invaders, that triggers our immune system to sweep in and try to contain and control the virus and stop it from making more and more copies of itself,” she says. > > But Furuya says that this immune system response to this invader can also destroy lung tissue and cause inflammation. The end result can be pneumonia. That means the air sacs in the lungs become inflamed and filled with fluid, making it harder to breathe. [sauce](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/14/805289669/how-covid-19-kills-the-new-coronavirus-disease-can-take-a-deadly-turn) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-pneumonia-and-pneumonia-vaccines/848932/6 "2020-03-04T20:40:04Z")
> [@Anny Middon](#): > > I had (probably rashly) assumed that since deaths seem to be primarily among people whose immune systems are compromised (due to age, disease, etc.) that the coronavirus weakened the immune system to the point where they could no longer stave off a garden-variety pneumococcal infection If this is not how it works, how does the coronavirus patient come down with pneumonia? In many cases with Corvid-19 pneumonia, the virus seems to trigger an inflammatory storm in the lungs. It is this inflammation that causes “pneumonia” and reminds us that pneumonia (also called pneumonitis) means Lung inflammation and not necessarily lung infection. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-pneumonia-and-pneumonia-vaccines/848932/7 "2020-03-04T21:27:28Z")
There were links posted somewhere here linking to data about mortality. From memory, an unusually high number of COVID-19 deaths were /not/ linked to bacterial pneumonia – it was down to around ??? 33%, ??? much less than recent flu deaths. And that in spite of the fact that China has a high rate of antibiotic resistance, making it relatively difficult to treat some of the patients with bacterial pneumonia. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-pneumonia-and-pneumonia-vaccines/848932/8 "2020-03-04T23:05:33Z")
Thanks, all. This information is exactly what I wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-pneumonia-and-pneumonia-vaccines/848932/9 "2020-03-06T03:47:57Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > Thanks, all. This information is exactly what I wanted. But not the answer you were hoping for, I’ll bet. So, if covid-19 causes inflammation, will treatment with corticosteroids (which have anti-inflammatory effect) be helpful? How about prednisone? How about the various inhaled corticosteroids used by people with asthma or COPD? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-pneumonia-and-pneumonia-vaccines/848932/10 "2020-03-06T09:47:41Z")
Steroids will reduce inflammation, but they reduce immune response, too. It’s a very fine line between reducing inflammation and suppressing the immune system so much an infection runs rampant and unchecked.