Question about the pneumococcal vaccine

[elfkin477]

I’m a little confused about the pneumococcal vaccine recommendations. They say you should get it if you’re over 65, or you have other risk factors and are younger; I fall into the latter category. I’m asthmatic and have already gotten pneumonia once, so I’m keen to get the vaccine, maybe when I get my yearly flu shot or early next year when my position becomes benefitted.

I’m a bit confused about this part, which is similar on most of the websites I’ve seen:

A second dose is recommended for people 65 and older who got their first dose when they were younger than 65

So…I’m 36, and don’t have any of the conditions they suggest getting a second dose five years later for. Does this really mean I can get it now and not have to get it again for 29 more years??

[Pai325]

We may be talking about two different vaccines, but I got my first pneumonia vaccine in the late 70s or early 80s, and was told is was a lifetime shot. About fifteen years later the doctor told me the guidelines had changed and it was a ten year shot, so I had another. Then it went to every five years, so I’ve had a couple more.

If its the same shot I don’t know that you can count on not getting another one for 29 years.

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

From UpToDate.com, a subscription medical website:

A single revaccination with PPSV23 is recommended in adults ≥65 years of age if they were vaccinated more than five years previously at a time when they were less than 65 years of age

For immunocompromised patients and individuals with functional or anatomic asplenia who are <65 years of age, the ACIP recommends a single revaccination with PPSV23 ≥5 years after the first dose. However, since asplenic patients are at particularly high risk for overwhelming pneumococcal infection, some authorities recommend regular revaccination at five- to six-year intervals. (See “Prevention of sepsis in the asplenic patient”, section on ‘Revaccination in children and adults’.)

All adults aged ≥65 years should receive a dose of PPSV23 even if they were vaccinated when they were <65 years of age; however, a minimum interval of five years between PPSV23 doses should be maintained.

So a healthy asthmatic would get one dose, then their 2nd one after 65.

[Pai325]

@Qadgop_the_Mercotan

From UpToDate.com, a subscription medical website:

So a healthy asthmatic would get one dose, then their 2nd one after 65.

I see myself - asplenic - in your quote, so I guess that explains it!