CDC advisory panel: senior need Prevnar 12 and Pneumovax 23

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to a revised vaccination schedule recommended by the 2015 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), adults 65 years and older need two pneumococcal vaccines to better protect them against a pneumococcal infection that could lead to pneumonia, meningitis, or sepsis.

Older people are at increased risk for developing a life-threatening infection by pneumococcal bacteria. Specifically, older adults are at a nearly 10 times increased risk of invasive pneumococcal disease compared with young adults.

ACIP, which is the vaccine advisory panel for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommends that people 65 years and older should receive both the Prevnar 13 and Pneumovax 23 vaccines.

Prevnar provides protection against 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria, while Pneumovax 23 protects against 23 types. The panel says that rather than only getting the vaccine that covers more types, getting both seems to provide broader protection as the two vaccines work in different ways.

If patients agree to get both vaccines, Prevnar 12 should be given first with Pneumovax 23 given 12 months later.

If a patients has already received Pneumovax 23, then the patient can receive Prevnar 12 12 months later. Because these recommendations come from the CDC's ACIP, health insurance companies, including Medicare, should cover both vaccinations for patients.