YOU Docs Daily
Pneumonia Vaccine Update: Prevnar 13 for People 50 Plus
If you had bet that Katy Perry and Russell Brand would never last or that the Cleveland Browns would NOT field a Super Bowl team in 2012, your crystal ball is working as well as YOU Docs’ did when 8 years ago we said that everyone 50 or older should get a pneumonia vaccine to protect their immune systems and fend off pneumonia symptoms.
The FDA now agrees. A pneumonia vaccine, called Prevnar 13, that was for kids 6 months to 5 years old, is now available for people 50 years and older. It attacks 13 strains of the lung-congesting and inflammation-causing bug and may pack a bigger punch than older vaccines (including Pneumovax) that used to be doled out only to folks 65 or older. Cook up some tomato soup to help reduce inflammation.
For the more than 300,000 people who are 50 and older and projected to be hospitalized with pneumonia this year, that’s very good news. But the vaccine’s power doesn’t stop there. We YOU Docs are on record saying that for folks 50 and older Pneumovax reduces inflammation, which damages blood vessels and makes your brain foggy and your thinking fuzzy. (Dr. Oz got this high-caliber shot when he turned 50, as did Dr. Mike.)
Does Prevnar do the same? Probably. But, frankly, preventing pneumonia and possibly reducing your risk of heart attack by 50% is more than enough reason for us -- and you -- to get vaccinated. Discover more good reasons to get vaccinated.
Medicare and most insurance companies cover it. If yours doesn’t, SWITCH. They're demonstrating just how much they do not care about you.
