Infectious diseases, including pneumonia and influenza, are on the rise among seniors, significantly affecting morbidity and hospitalizations (Duncan, 2017).
Pneumovax 23 is an injectable vaccine indicated for immunization against pneumococcal diseases for adults older than 49 years and children of two years and below (Schafer et al., 2018). Pneumococcal pneumonia kills 5% of all infected seniors, while pneumococcal bloodstream illness and meningitis kill 16.7% of the infected older persons (Schafer et al., 2018).
Seniors at 65 years and above, cigarette smokers, excessive alcohol drinkers, and those with comorbidities are at a higher risk of contracting pneumococcal infections (Duncan, 2017). Pneumovax 23 is 60 to 70% effective against 23 pneumococcal bacteria variants (Duncan, 2017). Seniors with comorbidities must be revaccinated every five years to maintain effectiveness.
Pneumovax 23 reduces the financial burden from pneumococcal infections by around 30% (Duncan, 2017). In 2017, vaccination reported high cost-effectiveness of $46,193 incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (Shami et al., 2020).
Pneumovax 23 is highly effective against 23 serotypes of pneumococcal infections (Duncan, 2017). It is also cost-effective, reducing the costs related to pneumococcal infection treatments.
References
Duncan, D. L. (2017). Immunization in the elderly. Nurse Prescribing,15(9), 438-444.
Schafer, J. J., McRae, J., Prioli, K. M., Harris, L. F., McCoy, M., Cannon-Dang, E., & Pizzi, L. T. (2018). Exploring beliefs about pneumococcal vaccination in a predominantly older African American population: the Pharmacists?Pneumonia Prevention Program (PPPP).Ethnicity & health, 1-15.
Shami, J. J., Pathadka, S., Chan, E. W., Hui, J., Sato, R., Patil, S., & Li, X. (2020). Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of a sequential pneumococcal vaccination compared to a single-dose vaccination strategy for adults in Hong Kong. Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics,16(8), 1937-1944.