The Importance of Pneumococcal Vaccines Compared with Other Respiratory Immunizations

As respiratory virus season in the winter reaches its peak, pharmacists and public health experts everywhere are looking to educate patients on the proper vaccines to prevent disease. However, pneumococcal vaccines are often overlooked when compared with those that protect against common winter-season illnesses.

“The pneumococcal vaccine is just as important, but it just protects against a different threat,” Megan Smith, PharmD, clinical pharmacist and health coach with Food City, told Drug Topics. “Flu and COVID-19 vaccines help prevent against viral respiratory infections, while the pneumococcal vaccine protects against bacterial infections that can cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections, and meningitis.”

With pneumococcal disease serotypes constantly changing, and new vaccine formulations needed to keep patients healthy, vaccinating US patients with either the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV) or the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) is crucial to public health outcomes across the country.

To provide the Drug Topics audience with deeper insights on the pneumococcal vaccine, Smith broke down what vaccines are available, who should receive them, and what uptake is like across today’s populations. More specifically, Smith provided nuance to the importance of pneumococcal vaccines when asked about their relationship with common respiratory viruses.

Learn more about the pneumococcal vaccine and its importance to populations of all ages. Also, stay tuned for more from our conversation with Smith, who dove deeper into pharmacists’ roles in vaccine uptake and the skepticism surrounding pneumococcal vaccine hesitancy.

READ MORE: Pneumococcal Resource Center

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