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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 Lower rates of heart attack, kidney failure and other problems were also seen in the vaccinated group, Fisman added.
Pneumococcal vaccine is recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for everybody aged 65 and older and for persons with chronic ailments such as heart disease. The government goal is to have 90 percent of the over-65 population get the vaccine, but the actual rate "is much less than it should be," Madjid said.
Pneumococcal vaccine is controversial, because "it is difficult to show that it actually decreases the risk of pneumonia," Fisman said. But there have been studies indicating not only that the vaccine decreases the risk, but also that when pneumonia does occur, it is less severe in those who have been vaccinated, he said.
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"If they did get pneumonia, they were less likely to get bacteremia, bacteria in the blood," Fisman said. "Heart disease may be an inflammatory process, and infection is a physiological challenge that generates an inflammatory response."
Whatever the mechanism, "people should discuss with their doctors whether they need to take the vaccine," Madjid said.
"This study is consistent with a number of studies showing that having the vaccine makes it less likely that people will die of pneumonia or heart disease," Fisman said. "The important take-home message is that pneumococcal vaccine gets a bad rap. It saves lives. It is a lot safer to vaccinate people than to pull them back from the brink when they have a heart attack."
More information
Learn who should get the pneumococcal vaccine from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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