CDC panel suggests pneumonia vaccine for smokers

A federal health panel has suggested pneumonia vaccine for smokers due to high risk of the disease for them. The recommendations of the panel are likely to be accepted by the CDC.

The vaccination program would include smokers in the age group of 19 to 64.

Statistical data indicates that smokers are about four times more prone to pneumococcal disease than nonsmokers.

According to CDC spokesman Curtis Allen, nearly one-fifth of U.S. adults smoke cigarettes. Allen said.

"The risk of getting pneumococcal pneumonia among smokers is substantially greater than among nonsmokers, so it makes sense to recommend that smokers get the vaccine," said Dr. Norman H. Edelman, chief medical officer for the American Lung Assn. "But that in no way protects you from all of the terrible things that smoking will do."

The vaccine will protect against several strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae, a group of bacteria also known as pneumococci. The bacteria thrive intermittently in the noses and throats of people of all ages but usually they do not cause any harm.

But  they can cause middle-ear and sinus infections as well as infection in lungs, central nervous system and blood.

In case of smokers it is easier for the bacteria to get to the wrong place by damaging protective mucous membranes and tiny, hair-like cilia in the back of the nose and throat, said Dr. Lisa Jackson, senior investigator for the Seattle-based Group Health Center for Health Studies. 

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