Pneumonia shots also help against viruses, including SARS CoV-2

That's crazy. Quick Boost #12.

Pneumonia shots are usually explained to patients as being protective against bacterial pneumonia, specifically that caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Turns out they also help protect against other enemies like coronaviruses and influenza viruses.

So how is it possible that a vaccine against bacteria could help with viruses, too? Should you get one if you haven’t already?

Pneumonia shots like Prevnar are routinely given to children in a 4 dose regimen between age 4 months and 15 months. They are given to adults at age 65. But they should also be given to adults with problems like diabetes, heart disease, asthma, COPD, smoking, immunocompromise, kidney disease, and liver disease to name just a few. And if we consider fatty liver a chronic liver disease, which it is - up to 33% of adults in the U.S would qualify for a pneumonia shot based on this criterion alone.

So here is the bottom line from the systematic review of 16 prior studies, just published last week in the Journal of Infectious Diseases:

• In children, data from 4 studies showed that Prevnar cut influenza rates by 41% to 86%. That’s comparable to a flu shot.

• In children, infection rates with other viruses, including coronaviruses, parainfluenza, and human metapneumovirus were also significantly lower.

• In adults, Prevnar reduced serious lower respiratory infections caused by several common viruses by 4% to 25%.

• In adults, Covid outcomes like diagnosis rates, hospitalizations, and deaths in the hospital were all reduced by 33%. These results were before Covid vaccines were available.

• In adults, lower respiratory infections like bronchitis and pneumonia caused by influenza A were up to 13% to 36% lower.

So, why is a bacterial vaccine helping pretty well against viruses, especially in children?

We already knew that pneumonia shots like Prevnar work well against bacterial pneumonia, blood stream infections, and meningitis caused by Streptococcus. These types of infections kill up to 1.6 million people annually. But there has been a false dichotomy between purely viral infections and purely bacterial infections. Of course the organisms on our planet evolved together, and we should have known that viruses, bacteria, and fungi all continue to interact simultaneously during infections of the human body.

From the authors of the new study:

Historically, viral infections have been considered to precipitate secondary bacterial, and particularly pneumococcal, lower respiratory tract infections through various mechanisms [6]. The classic example of this secondary bacterial infection was the association between influenza and secondary pneumonia cases caused by bacterial pathogens, including pneumococci, during the 1918-19 influenza pandemic [7]. More recent evidence indicates that interactions between bacteria and viruses in respiratory infection can be bidirectional [8-10]. Given the synergistic interactions between bacterial and viral pathogens, vaccination against either bacterial or viral pathogens might have broader benefits than reducing etiologically-confirmed disease due to the target pathogen.

More specifically, pneumonia shots like Prevnar probably alter the serotypes and densities of pneumococcal bacteria in our airways, and thereby beneficially affect the complex microbiome going on inside our respiratory systems.

In terms of the bacteria that we are carrying around inside us:

Pneumococcal carriage at the time of viral infection has been associated with an impairment of virus-specific immune responses to influenza and SARS-CoV-2 [9, 44]. Pneumococcal carriage and density have been associated with increased odds of SARS-CoV-2 infection in adults [33]. Viral infection itself may increase pneumococcal colonization density, which may increase the risk for subsequent respiratory tract infections in children [10, 45]. In adults, pneumonia vaccines not only prevent carriage acquisition but also help to control carriage density [46].

Xrays of pneumonia affecting a lobe of the lungs.

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So bottom line, if you qualify for a pneumonia shot, talk to your doctor and get one. Here’s more information from the CDC on what’s up. Tell an eligible friend or family member. If we look at the indications for pneumonia vaccination in the third paragraph above, it would seem that a majority of American adults actually qualify. Get your kids and grandkids the full recommended vaccine schedule, both for the intended diseases… and for a surprising collateral protection against microbiological partners in crime.