Vaccination against pneumococci
What is pneumococcal vaccination?
A vaccination is generally a preventive measure designed to prevent you from contracting an illness.
Pneumococci are a special type of bacteria that are the most common cause of pneumonia in outpatient settings. In principle, it is therefore a preventive step that is intended to prevent you from getting pneumonia in the course of the process.
With the vaccination, one tries to show the body “the building instructions” for special defense cells so that - in the event of an infection with pneumococci - it is able to use the defense cells quickly and thus prevent a real pneumonia in the first place.
What does vaccination protect against?
The vaccination should - as mentioned above - mainly help against the development of pneumonia.
In addition, pneumococci can also be responsible for the development of meningitis, otitis media or sinusitis. The first two are potentially life-threatening diseases that often require intensive medical therapy, especially in people with a weakened immune system.
Also read: Vaccination against pneumonia
procedure
Who should be vaccinated against pneumococci?
Nowadays, the pneumococcal vaccination is part of the basic immunization of children recommended by the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) of the Robert Koch Institute. It is administered to children as an additional measure to prevent childhood diseases, if the parents so choose. In this case, a dead vaccine is used, which contains components of the 13 most common types of pneumococci.
The vaccination is also recommended for people over 60 years of age. With increasing age, the strength and abilities of the body's immune system dwindle, so that preventive vaccination can prevent serious disease progression.
In addition, immunosuppressed people - whether congenital or acquired - are among the patients who should be vaccinated against pneumococci. In an emergency, your immune system would also not be able to deal with a massive bacterial infection.
The vaccination should also be carried out on people who can be considered as “carriers and multipliers” and who have frequent human contact. Even more attention is paid to this aspect with the flu vaccination. If an infection occurs, those involved can infect other people. Examples of these risk groups are cashiers, bus drivers, doctors and medical personnel.
Read more on the topic:
- Why should you vaccinate?
- Pneumonia in old age
When should the vaccination take place?
The vaccination is carried out three or four times within the first year of childhood.
The above-mentioned primary immunization of the child begins with the second month of life (if it is a live vaccine, it should be used from the ninth month at the earliest), in which the first of three doses is administered. The second dose is given to the child at the age of four and the third at the age of approximately 12 months. If the child is a premature baby, the STIKO recommends that a fourth dose of the vaccine be administered in order to ensure adequate immunization. This takes place at the age of about three months.
Older people are advised from the age of 60 to refresh their vaccination protection. But now a vaccine is used that no longer only covers 13 but 23 of the most dangerous pneumococcal subtypes. These people will only be vaccinated once. Constant refreshment at short intervals is not recommended unless there is a strict medical indication to do so. Short intervals are used when vaccination is carried out at short intervals for several years.
You might also be interested in:
- Vaccinations in the baby
- Should I get my baby vaccinated?
Is it a live or dead vaccine?
There is no injection decision between these two types of vaccine for pneumococcal vaccination. Only 2 dead vaccines are currently available on the market, but they are sold by different manufacturers.
The difference between these two types of vaccine, however, is that the live vaccine still contains live but weakened pneumococci.
The inactivated vaccine, on the other hand, is satisfied with the individual components of a bacterium. So you can think of this vaccine as a liquid with "hexed" pneumococci, so that there are no longer any intact bacteria. Since the body's own immune system is only able to identify part of the bacterial shell or an appendage of the bacterium, a dead vaccine may also suffice.
Further information on the subject can be found at: Live vaccination
refreshing
The booster of the vaccination is normally only recommended once, namely for people over the age of 60. This one-off boost is enough to prepare the immune system for potential infections for several decades.
In certain exceptional cases, a more frequent refresher can be carried out for medical reasons. However, these are special diseases of the immune system.
General information about the vaccinations that should be given to adults can be found here: Vaccinations for adults
Who shouldn't get vaccinated?
Children or people who are ill at the scheduled time of vaccination should not be vaccinated. In this case it is strongly recommended to suspend the vaccination and to catch it up at a later date.
In principle, there are no contraindications for vaccination, except in the case of allergies to a component of the vaccine.
For people after the age of two and before the age of 60 - provided there are no serious immune diseases - the vaccination does not have to be carried out, because the immune system is strong enough to deal with this infection itself during this time.
For this reason, the health insurance companies usually do not cover the costs of vaccination for these people.
Risks of vaccination
Like any medical treatment or medical intervention, a vaccination is always associated with a certain residual risk of damage.Every vaccine contains in its liquid components potentially allergenic substances to which certain people can react. Allergies are often not yet known, especially in small children.
Other potential complications include abnormal responses from the body to the vaccine. The reasons why some people react with an incredibly strong immune response are in most cases absolutely unclear and most likely have their origins in a genetic defect. However, such reactions cannot be foreseen for all doctors and therefore cannot really be avoided.
In very rare cases, the vaccine can also lead to the outbreak of a disease against which the vaccine is supposed to offer protection. A pneumococcal vaccination could theoretically cause meningitis if the components of the vaccine were not rendered one hundred percent harmless. Unfortunately, it is not possible to monitor each individual vaccine dose, so this can happen in rare cases. However, looking at the statistics, the likelihood of dying from a pneumococcal disease is significantly higher than a fatal course of pneumococcal vaccination.
More about this at: Does vaccination do more harm than good?
Side effects of vaccination
The range of side effects after a pneumococcal vaccination extends from local to systemic reactions.
Local reactions include reddening of the puncture site and possibly itching in the hours or a burning sensation in the first few minutes after the vaccination.
Of course, allergic reactions can also occur, which in the most uncomplicated case can be manifested by simple hives (so-called urticaria) at the injection site, but in the worst case by an allergic shock.
Other systemic reactions of the body would be the development of a fever or the occurrence of headaches, muscle pains or aching limbs.
In connection with pre-existing diseases that affect the blood and the hematopoietic system, the platelet count is said to have dropped, i.e. a restricted ability of the blood to clot or anemia.
Also read:
- Rash After Vaccination - What Is The Cause?
- Side effects from vaccinations in the baby
Fever after vaccination
The occurrence of fever after a vaccination can be interpreted as a good rather than a bad signal from the body, as it suggests that the body reacts to the introduced vaccine and that the "blueprint for the appropriate immune cells" can be established in the body.
As a rule, the fever does not rise above 39 degrees after the vaccination. If this is the case, it is advisable to consult a doctor or pediatrician to gain clarity.
A fever arises in connection with the vaccination when the immune cells called up by the body send out messenger substances, which on the one hand attract additional immune cells, but also increase the target body temperature.
For more information, see:
- Fever after vaccination
- Fever in baby after vaccination
Pain after vaccination
Post-vaccination pain should also not be a cause for concern, unless it continues to get worse over the next few days. As already mentioned, muscles and limbs, but also headaches, are among the common side effects after a pneumococcal vaccination. The area where the vaccine was applied can also be significantly more sensitive to pain than the rest of the body for a few days. This is also due to the messenger substances of the immune cells, which ensure increased excitability of the pain-conducting fibers of the human body.
You can find important information under: The pain after a vaccination - that should be taken into account
Can the flu vaccine and the pneumococcal vaccine be given at the same time?
Simultaneous vaccination is safe from a medical point of view, unless it is a patient with known immunodeficiency. The underlying pathogen classes differ for the vaccines mentioned. In the pneumococcal vaccination, bacteria are the causative agents. In the case of the flu vaccination, however, it is the viruses.
Often, as a result of an influenza illness (due to influenza viruses), an infection with pneumococci can occur. Also on the STIKO website there are no indications that a simultaneous vaccination is not allowed.
Read more about the flu vaccination at:
- The flu vaccination
- How can you prevent flu?
Are you contagious after a vaccination?
Since it is a dead vaccine, there is no risk of infection from the vaccinated person, since there are no pathogens in the person, only components of pathogens that have been rendered harmless.
The signs of illness, such as a mild fever, muscle and joint pain, are signs that the immune system is responding to the vaccination.
As described above, in very rare cases the vaccine may still contain intact pathogens that cause illness. Then the vaccinated person can be contagious for those around him. However, such cases are in the range of a maximum of 1 in 100,000.
costs
The cost of vaccinations differs depending on the vaccine. The vaccine, which is able to cover 13 subtypes of the pneumococcal pathogens, can be found online for a price of just under 80 euros per syringe. It should be noted that children need three or possibly four doses of this vaccine. For larger quantities, however, there is also a price reduction for private buyers.
The vaccine with components of 23 subtypes, however, paradoxically only costs around 36 euros, i.e. less than half of the other vaccine. At the same time, there are several manufacturers, which could explain a more aggressive price war between the manufacturers, which is why the price is lower.
Does the health insurance company cover the costs?
If you belong to one of the groups of people for whom vaccination against pneumococci is recommended, the health insurance company will usually cover the costs. This includes children and adults older than 60 years.
For all other persons, the health insurance company could require proof of the indication for vaccination. The vaccinating doctor can issue these.
