There is a high incidence of respiratory diseases
Be alert for pneumococcal disease
With the advent of winter, the latent pathogens of respiratory infectious diseases have begun to be active, and like other respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza and encephalopathy, pneumococcal diseases are also more common in winter and spring, requiring us to be vigilant and take precautions.
What is Streptococcus pneumoniae?
Streptococcus pneumoniae, often referred to simply as "pneumococcus", is a bacterium that is able to adhere to and colonize the surface of the upper respiratory tract in humans for a long time without causing any clinical symptoms, and is very good at stealth. The fact that it does not cause clinical symptoms does not usually mean that pneumococci are safe. When the body is in a weakened immune system, respiratory virus infections such as measles or influenza, and malnutrition, pneumococcus "waits for opportunities" and "takes advantage of the weakness" to cause a series of diseases, collectively known as "pneumococcal diseases".
What is pneumococcal disease?
Pneumococcal disease is a general term for a series of diseases caused by pneumococcus, including non-invasive diseases such as sinusitis, otitis media, and non-bacteremic pneumonia, and serious invasive diseases such as bacteremic pneumonia, bacteremia, and meningitis.
Pneumococcal disease isHow did it spread?
Who is susceptible?
Pneumococci adheres to the nasopharynx of a person. Respiratory droplet transmission, direct close contact, and autoinfection of colonizing bacteria are the main routes of pneumococcal disease. Infants, young children and middle-aged and elderly people (especially those over 65 years old) are very easy to be "targeted" by pneumococcus due to their relatively poor autoimmunity. Patients with chronic diseases such as chronic hepatitis, chronic heart disease, diabetes, and immunocompromised people are also groups that pneumococcus "target". These groups of people are susceptible and need to be vigilant and should take precautions according to the doctor's instructions.
How can I protect myself from pneumococcal disease?
In general, there are two measures for the public to prevent pneumococcal disease:
1) Non-pharmacological precautions
For example, maintain good hygiene habits, do a good job of environmental hygiene, avoid contact with patients, wear masks scientifically during the epidemic of respiratory diseases, and try to avoid going to crowded public places
2) Drug-based precautions
Pneumococcal vaccination is the most cost-effective way to prevent pneumococcal disease. As early as 2008, the World Health Organization listed pneumococcal disease as a disease requiring "very high priority" vaccine prevention.
What are the pneumococcal vaccines?
How to choose?
Pneumococcal vaccines are mainly divided into pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV) and pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine (PCV), and different types of vaccines are suitable for people of different ages. The World Health Organization recommends that all children be vaccinated against PCV to prevent pneumococcal disease caused by vaccine serotypes. In China, the main vaccines used are PPSV23 and PCV13, which are the most commonly referred to as 23-valent and 13-valent pneumococcal vaccines
ppsv23
PPSV23 is given to people over 2 years of age who are at increased risk of pneumococcal infection and pneumococcal disease.
pcv13
PCV13 is given to children aged 6 weeks to 5 years (before 6 years) and protects against pneumococcal disease, particularly invasive pneumococcal disease, caused by 13 pneumococcal serotypes.
The specific vaccination procedure needs to be vaccinated according to the instructions under the guidance of a physician.
Get immunized
Build a strong barrier for yourself and your health!
Contributed by Che Jie, Chen Bohan, Chen Xia, and Shao Zhujun, Institute of Infectious Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.