pneumonia and copd

[skate4life]

Interesting long term study out of Spain.

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in copd patients; older, male, current/ex-smokers, heavy alcohol, with chronic co-morbidities heart failure and cancer, were vaccinated for flu and pneumonia.

Clinical admission 3 days after onset (4 days non-copd) with cough, expectoration, purulent sputum, dyspnea, tachypnea & respiratory failure; LESS likely to have fever, diarrhea, headache, arthromyalgias, multilobar infiltrates, pleural effusion, empyema and bacteraemia.

Strep pneumonia* most common agent, but heaemophilus pneumonia and gram-negative bacilli*, especially P.aeruginosa* more frequent than non-copd. Bacteremia less scommon except when P.aeruginosa is found. (* especially in severe copd receiving oxygen therapy at home.)

They did find that prior pneumococcal vaccine was found to be protective.

Hope everyone gets their vaccines!!!

[David]

I went and got my Flu shot the other day. I have had pneumonia shots in the past. I was reading this article before I went to the Doctor. I told Doc and he said he hasn't heard anything yet.

Seniors, expect to get a new kind of pneumonia vaccine along with that flu shot.

This year, the CDC is urging people 65 and older to get a new kind of pneumonia vaccine along with their flu shot.

Children already receive Pfizer's Prevnar-13 to prevent a kind of bacteria, called pneumococcus, that can cause pneumonia, meningitis and other infections. Now seniors need a one-time dose, too, Frieden said.

That's in addition to a one-time dose of another long-used pneumonia vaccine, called a polysaccharide vaccine. The caveat: The two pneumonia shots have to be given at least six months apart. If you've had neither so far, get the new kind first - along with this year's flu shot - and come back later for the second pneumonia vaccine, advised Schaffner. Together, the two pneumonia shots are expected to cut seniors' risk of pneumococcal infection by 45 percent, and the chance of severe disease by 75 percent, he said.

www.cnn.com/2014/09/18/health/flu-shot/index.html