Since Pasteur et al. Isolated pneumococcus in 1881, People have been trying every means to control and eliminate this bacterium, which can cause many types of infection. But the road has not been smooth. Until the end of the Second World War, Only then did people find out the real weapons that can deal with pneumococcus-antibiotics and vaccines. Due to the strong competitors of antibiotics, Pneumonia vaccine was not popular with clinicians when it was first invented. Two 6-valent pneumonia vaccines were withdrawn from the market early on. However, with the increase of bacterial drug resistance, the advantages of vaccines have finally been more and more widely recognized. What is pneumococcus? Pneumococcus is a common bacterium, It can reside in the nasopharynx of the human body, Spread through respiratory droplets from nasopharynx. In most cases, carriers do not have what symptoms. But when immunity drops, Pneumococci will come out and destroy people’s health. Although this bacterium is called pneumonia, But it can also cause common diseases such as meningitis, bacteremia and otitis media. In the United States, Pneumococcal infections can cause 500,000 cases of pneumonia each year, 50,000 cases of bacteremia and 3,000 cases of meningitis. The mortality rate of invasive infection caused by this is about 7% ~ 28% in all age groups. For pneumococcal meningitis, The reported mortality rate ranged from 5% to 40%, Another 30% ~ 50% of the cases have permanent sequelae. In our country, pneumonia caused by pneumococcus is an important common disease in infancy and is the first cause of death in hospitalized children in our country. Moreover, for the elderly, the mortality rate of pneumonia has not decreased significantly in recent years due to the effective use of antibiotics. What is pneumonia vaccine? Pneumonia vaccine is a vaccine designed to prevent pneumococcal infection. The usual pneumonia vaccine actually includes two kinds. They are pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine and pneumococcal protein conjugate vaccine respectively. For most vaccinators, the difference between the two is mainly in the scope of use. Polysaccharide vaccines are mainly aimed at children over 2 years old and the elderly over 60 years old. The use of protein conjugate vaccines is mainly for children aged 3 months to 2 years. Of course, And the price, The price of a 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine is about 200 yuan, The price of a 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is above 800 yuan. The 23-valent or 7-valent here refers to the number of serotypes covered. Pneumococcal has found more than 90 serotypes so far. The 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine refers to the vaccine covering 23 common serotypes of pneumococci. The 7-valent and so on. As for polysaccharide and combination, it actually refers to the different processes of vaccine production. Conjugate vaccine refers to the combination of polysaccharides on protein carriers, which improves the immunity of the vaccine and enables children under 2 years old to have an immune response to the vaccine-of course, this also means that the process is more complicated, so the price is more expensive. Do you want to take pneumonia vaccine or not? As to whether to receive a self-funded vaccine, More often than not, it is not simply considered from the perspective of medical necessity. 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, Its suitable vaccination population is over 2 years old, It is especially recommended for the elderly, people over 2 years old with low immunity and people with smoking history. Numerous studies have shown its effect in preventing pneumococcal infection. It can reduce the risk of acute otitis media in infants, Reduce the risk of infant death caused by acute lower respiratory tract infection, As a result, many developed countries, including the United States, Canada, France and Germany, have adopted it as a recommended vaccine. Shanghai and Chengdu in China have included 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines in their local immunization programs. Local residents who meet the vaccination conditions can be vaccinated free of charge or at a small cost. Therefore, it is especially recommended that the local elderly go for vaccination. Besides, the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, At present, there is no domestic conjugated pneumonia vaccine on the market in China. And the imported pneumococcal conjugate vaccine has expired due to the manufacturer’s license, Suspension of business in our country. This has solved the problem of whether many parents are vaccinated with expensive pneumococcal conjugate vaccine-since everything is gone, there is naturally no problem of vaccination or not. Therefore, like other vaccines, pneumococcal vaccination or not should not be a tangled problem.
