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Medical Author:

George Schiffman, MD, FCCP

George Schiffman, MD, FCCP

Dr. Schiffman received his B.S. degree with High Honors in biology from Hobart College in 1976. He then moved to Chicago where he studied biochemistry at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle. He attended Rush Medical College where he received his M.D. degree in 1982 and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He completed his Internal Medicine internship and residency at the University of California, Irvine.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Bacterial Pneumonia Prevention

• Vaccines are available that prevent certain types of pneumonia. Yet there are so many bacteria that cause pneumonia, you are not guaranteed to avoid it even with an immunization.



• Pneumovax and Pnu-Immune are vaccines to prevent Streptococcus pneumoniae infection. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people in the following groups should ask their doctor about receiving the pneumococcus immunization:



• people age 65 and older,



• people with serious long-term health problems such as heart failure, liver failure (cirrhosis of the liver), diabetes, or lung disease (other than asthma),



• people with lowered immunity due to cancer, chemotherapy, diseases or removal of the spleen, chronic kidney problems, or have had an organ or bone marrow transplant, or



• people who are Alaskan Native Americas or certain other Native American populations.



• In 2000, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensed a new vaccine, Prevnar, for the prevention of pneumococcal disease in children.



• This vaccine is recommended for healthy infants under the age of 2 and for children between the ages of 2 and 5 who have not previously been vaccinated and who are at highest risk for developing pneumococcal disease, such as those with HIV/AIDS, have certain chronic diseases, and have decreased immune function.