CDC Votes Unanimously to Recommend Pneumonia Shots for Ages 19-64 with Asthma

At the doctor’s office today I asked the doctor about pneumonia shots for young people with asthma. (I already knew that pneumonia shots were recommended for people 65 and above.) My doctor carries his laptop from examining to examining room and here’s what he pulled up dated a few days ago:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted unanimously yesterday to recommend that adults ages 19 to 64 with asthma receive pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23), known as PNEUMOVAX® 23 (Pneumococcal Vaccine Polyvalent). Merck & Co., Inc. is the sole supplier of PNEUMOVAX 23 in the United States. The ACIP based this recommendation on study data that showed an increased risk of pneumococcal disease among people with asthma.

My doctor was pretty impressed that he had this info literally at his fingertips. And I was pretty impressed to have such a timely answer.

And now I’d like to pass this timely info on to you, with the hope that you will pass it on to people with asthma whom you know. We all don’t see the same news releases, so most of us depend on the kindness of friends to keep us in the loop on important info that can impact our lives. Be a good friend and pass this info along because pneumonia can be a life-and-death matter.

Here’s the link to the whole article: http://snipurl.com/pneumoniashots

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