Can Pneumonia be prevented with vaccines?

Yes pneumonia vaccines can be prevented. There are two types of vaccines :-

• Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13 or Prevnar 13^®)
• Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23 or Pneumovax23^®)

1. PCV13- PCV13 Vaccine. Pneumococcalconjugate vaccine known PCV13 protects versus  13 types of pneumococcal PCV13 is regularly  given to children at 2, 4, 6, and 12–15 months of age. CDC suggested  that all adults 65 years of age or older receive a dose of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine PCV13 or Prevnar13followed by a dose of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine  PPSV23 or Pneumovax23 at least 1 year later. You should not take  PCV13 and PPSV23 on the same day. Prevnar 13  Pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine  diphtheria CRM197 protein  suspension for intramuscular injection is indicated for active immunizationfor the prevention of disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. If the patient’s background  suggests that this dose was given on or after age 65 years  it can be counted as the one dose recommended for this age group. If it has been a year or longer since this dose, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV, Prevnar 13, Pfizer) should be administered now.
2. PPSV23- pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine protects against 23 types ofpneumococcal bacteria. This vaccine helps prevent invasive infections such as  meningitis and bacteremia. Every  year in the pneumococcal disease kills thousands of adults, including 18,000 adults 65 years or older. Pneumococcal disease is caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, a bacterium that has more than 90 serotypes. Most serotypes cause disease, but only a few produce the majority of invasive pneumococcal disease.