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Pneumococcal disease is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths in the United States each year. This disease is caused by the pneumococcal bacteria, and is not the same as viral pneumonia, which is caused by a virus. It can infect the lungs, the blood, and the membrane that covers the brain. Pneumococcal infection is the cause of more than one third of pneumonia in adults. The disease is most likely to strike in the winter and spring, but there are cases year round. Those at highest risk are very young children, people sixty-five years old or older, and people of any age who have chronic medical problems or a weakened immune system.
The good news is that there is a vaccine available to prevent pneumococcal disease. The pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine protects against the twenty-three pneumococcal types most likely to cause disease in adults. The vaccine is safe and effective and is recommended for everyone over the age of sixty-five and for those at highest risk for developing the disease. Unlike the flu shot, you only need the pneumococcal vaccine once in a lifetime, if you have it after your sixty-fifth birthday. If you received one before then, you may need a booster shot to increase your protection.
The pneumococcal vaccine is available at the Hingham Board of Health free of charge. Please call the Hingham Public Health nurses, at 781-741-1466, to schedule an appointment or for more information.