Pneumococcal vaccines are used to prevent or lower the risk of getting pneumonia. But not all people need these vaccines. Pneumococcal vaccines are of two types: conjugate vaccines and polysaccharide vaccines. Usually, both of these vaccinations are prescribed in order to ensure that at least one is more effective and helps treat the bacteria, virus fungi or parasite better.

Normally, children and people above 65 years of age require vaccinations against pneumonia. So, healthy adults between the ages 18 and 64 do not require a shot of pneumococcal vaccines. However, there is a group of people, falling in the aforementioned age group, who may need vaccinations against pneumonia. Heavy alcoholics belong to this class as well. Due to heavy drinking, their white blood cells lose their ability to fight infection, hence weakening the immune system. Similar is the case with smokers. Due to smoking, the filters inside the lungs get damaged. Excessive smoking impacts the lung’s ability to filter and then they are no longer capable of filtering out bad germs. People who have had some major surgery are also required to get pneumococcal vaccines. People who have been in the ICU, breathing from the ventilators are also at higher risk of getting pneumonia.

As already mentioned, pneumococcal vaccines are very safe. Usually, there are no side effects at all. In very rare cases, soreness, swelling or mild fever may occur. But the chances of that happening are less than 1%, and normally people need not worry about them. So, people over the age of 65 years and people with any risk of getting pneumonia must take the vaccination. The guarantee of safety makes the decision of going for vaccination much easier. After all, the injected thing is merely an extract of what causes the illness. And with this little action, a person can stop worrying about the risks of getting pneumonia.