2024-01-06 22:00:00
Written by Walid Abdel Salam Sunday, January 7, 2024 12:00 AM
The Ministry of Health and Population revealed the provision of vaccines for pneumococci, which cause pneumonia, noting that all treatment protocols for pneumonia in chest hospitals are available and provided free of charge to all those who visit them.
Dr. Mostafa Mohammadi, Director General of Vaccinations and Vaccine, said that pneumonia is an inflammatory respiratory disease that affects the lungs and is caused by viruses, bacteria, and fungi.
He continued: In 2019, pneumonia was responsible for 2.5 million deaths, including 672,000 children, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change exacerbated the global pneumonia crisis, exposing millions more to the risk of infection and death.
He added: The World Health Organization estimates that the pneumococcal bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae kills more than 300,000 children under the age of five around the world every year.
Most of these deaths occur in developing and poor countries, and are the leading cause of death from pneumonia globally.
He pointed out that pneumococcal disease is the name for any infection caused by bacteria called Streptococcus pneumoniae or pneumococcus. These bacteria can cause many types of infections, some of which may be directly life-threatening, including pneumonia, septicemia or blood infection, sinusitis, otitis media, meningitis, or meningitis.
He said: In some of these infections, the microbe may penetrate areas of the body that are sterile (they do not contain any type of germs), so the disease is very severe and requires hospital care and may sometimes cause death. Doctors consider the infection in these cases to be penetrating, invasive, or pandemic, and it can be Anyone can contract pneumococcal disease, but the risk of infection may be increased for some people and not others, depending on their age group or health condition.
He continued: Children under two years of age and the elderly (65 years of age and above) are at increased risk of contracting pneumococcal disease, and according to the health condition, children, adults, and the elderly suffer from the following diseases, have an increased risk of contracting pneumococcal bacteria, and they are those with the following diseases:
1- Patients with heart, lung and chronic kidney disease
2- Cerebrospinal fluid leakage
3- Cochlear implant patients
4- Diabetes, whether type 1 or type 2
5- HIV patients
6- Patients with cancer, solid organ transplantation, or another condition, or taking medications that suppress the immune system
7- Sickle cells
8- The spleen (splenectomy) or its absence
He continued: There are other factors that increase the risk of infection in adults and the elderly, such as alcoholism, smoking, and chronic lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, and asthma. He continued: Pneumococcal disease spreads among humans through direct contact with respiratory secretions such as saliva or… Mucus: Many people, especially children, carry these bacteria in their noses or throats at one time or another without being sick. In this case, they are called carriers of the disease, and they may represent a source of infection for others, but it is not necessary for them to be infected with it.
He said that the disease is prevented by obtaining the vaccine, the most important and most effective means of preventing this disease, and there are currently two types of pneumococcal vaccine in Egypt, adding that there are more than 90 types of pneumococcal bacteria, some of which are dangerous, and that vaccines protect against many types of these bacteria, but not All of them, and the US Center for Infectious Disease Control (CDC) advises that children, adults, and the elderly should be vaccinated with pneumococcal vaccines.
It is important to get the flu vaccine every year because having the flu increases the likelihood of developing pneumococcal disease.
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