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Diseases & Conditions

Ask the doctor: Two pneumonia shots are better than one

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n0515b16207252088136I'm 68, and I had the pneumonia vaccine a few years ago. Now I hear that I need to have two different ones. Do I really need to do this?

A.

The two vaccines build immunity against different types of the bacterium, known as pneumococcus, that causes pneumonia. Pneumovax (PPSV23) protects against 23 common types of pneumococcus. Prevnar (PCV13) protects against 13 types.

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