Pneumonia
Alcohol Consumption
and Lung Disease
Heavy alcohol consumption depresses the immune system and
results in a predisposition to infectious diseases, including
respiratory infections, pneumonia, and tuberculosis.
Persons at Risk for
Pneumococcal Disease
Anyone can get pneumococcal disease. But there are some groups
at a particularly high risk for pneumococcal disease or its
complications. These groups include persons aged 65 and older,
individuals with weak immune systems due to cancer, leukemia,
Hodgkin's disease or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV);
persons with sickle cell disease or without a functioning
spleen; individuals who have a chronic illness such as lung,
heart, and kidney disease, diabetes, and alcoholism; and
persons living in special environments or social settings such
as Alaskan Natives and certain American Indian populations.
Pneumococcal Disease
Pneumococcal disease is a leading cause of serious illness in
children and adults throughout the world. The disease is
caused by a common bacterium, the pneumococcus, which can
attack different parts of the body. When bacteria invade the
lungs, they cause the most common form of community-acquired
bacterial pneumonia; when bacteria invade the bloodstream,
they cause bacteremia (blood poisoning); and when they invade
the covering of the brain, they cause meningitis. Pneumococci
may also cause otitis media (middle ear infection) and
sinusitis.
Pneumococcal Disease
Stats
Each year in the United States, pneumococcal disease accounts
for an estimated 500,000 cases of pneumonia, 50,000 cases of
bacteremia, and 3,000 cases of meningitis. According to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pneumococcal
disease causes an estimated 40,000 deaths annually, which
accounts for more deaths than all other vaccine-preventable
diseases combined. The highest rates of death occur among the
elderly and patients who have underlying medical conditions.
Despite appropriate treatment with antibiotics and intensive
medical care, the approximate overall death rate is five
percent for pneumococcal pneumonia, 20 percent for
pneumococcal bacteremia and 30 percent for meningitis.
Pneumococcal disease is particularly serious for older adults.
The rate of death for bacteremia alone is 30-40 percent among
elderly patients.
Pneumonia Is Serious
Business
Each year in the United States about 500,000 cases of
pneumococcal pneumonia occur and about 40,000 of those cases
die.
Pneumonia Symptoms
The most common symptoms of pneumococcal pneumonia are sudden
shaking chills, cough, and fever. These symptoms are
accompanied by chest congestion, greenish, yellowish, or
blood-tinged "rusty" sputum, and a headache. Breathing may be
rapid and painful with sharp chest pain.
Prevention of
Pneumococcal Disease
The best way to protect against pneumococcal disease is
through vaccination. Despite widespread recommendations for
its use, in 1997 only 45.4 percent of those aged 65 or older,
less than half of all older adults, reported receiving
pneumococcal vaccination.
Treatment of
Pneumococcal Disease
Pneumococcal disease is treated with antibiotics, such as
penicillins, cephalosporins, and erythromycin. In recent
years, the rapid emergence of pneumococcal strains resistant
to one or more of the commonly used antibiotics, including
penicillin, have become increasingly common in the United
States and other parts of the world. The impact of this
resistance makes treatment difficult, resulting in longer
hospitalizations and expensive alternative therapy. The
emergence of these resistant strains places further emphasis
on the need for preventing pneumococcal disease through
vaccination.
Vaccinations Against
Pneumococcal Disease
WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO GET VACCINATED?
Pneumococcal vaccination, which is reimbursable by Medicare
Part B, is appropriate at any time of the year but is most
often given at the same time as the influenza vaccine in the
early to mid-Fall.
Pneumococcal vaccines are considered clinically effective and
safe. In some cases, the vaccine may cause some local reaction
or soreness around the site of the injection; however, these
reactions are usually minor and subside within a few days.
HOW OFTEN IS VACCINATION
NEEDED?
In most people, vaccination is needed only once in a lifetime.
However, for others, including those people at highest risk
for serious disease, revaccination may be necessary.
Individuals should consult their physicians to determine if
revaccination is recommended.
WHO SHOULD BE VACCINATED?
Vaccination is recommended for the approximately 31 million
Americans 65 years of age and older, and for the 23 million
Americans aged 2 to 64 years who are described as being at
high risk for pneumococcal disease or its complications.
WHO SHOULD NOT BE VACCINATED?
Individuals who have had a previous allergic reaction to any
component of the pneumococcal vaccine (e.g., hives, difficulty
breathing) People receiving radiation therapy or chemotherapy
Children under two years of age
WHO Warns of Killer
Pneumonia
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), an atypical
pneumonia whose cause is not yet known, was detected in China
in February, 2003.
"This syndrome, SARS, is now
a worldwide health threat," World Health Organization
director-general Gro Harlem Brundtland said in a statement.
The illness, which starts
with flu-like symptoms such as coughing, high fever and
shortness of breath, can deteriorate rapidly into pneumonia.
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