This post is sponsored and developed in part by Pfizer; however, the opinions are my own
Let’s say you and your husband, both in your mid-60s, can’t wait to celebrate your anniversary doing something you love, like hiking or golfing. You’re both as active today as you were when you married decades ago, and every year since you’ve become empty nesters, you go hiking or golfing in a new spot. But what if you never make it to this year’s destination because one of you comes down with pneumococcal pneumonia? Instead of visiting an exciting place like The Grand Canyon or St. Andrews, imagine that you’re stuck at home or in severe cases, maybe even in the hospital.
Don’t let pneumococcal pneumonia pay you a surprise visit. Active boomers who watch their diets like hawks, get the recommended eight hours of sleep every night, and work out in the gym, can still get pneumococcal pneumonia. That’s because the immune system naturally weakens as we age. This makes us more vulnerable to a potentially serious bacterial lung disease like pneumococcal pneumonia. As a matter of fact, adults 65 years or older are over 10 times more likely to be hospitalized with pneumococcal pneumonia than adults 18 to 49.1,2
Considering there are more than 47.8 million adults 65 or older in the United States today3, pneumococcal pneumonia has the potential to sideline any of us from the experiences that our vibrant generation loves. Pneumococcal pneumonia may cause symptoms including coughing, difficulty breathing, high fever, excessive sweating, shaking chills and chest pain.4 It can be life threatening in severe cases. It can strike anywhere, anytime and may start quickly with little warning.
Another critical fact you might not know: You can help protect yourself against pneumococcal pneumonia with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended vaccinations. As of September 2016, less than 19 percent of adults 65 years or older were fully vaccinated with both recommended pneumococcal vaccines, according to the CDC.5
Pfizer recently launched the All About Your BoomTM campaign to help educate adults 65 and older about this potentially serious bacterial lung disease and the importance of staying up-to-date on CDC- recommended vaccinations.
Check out this website for more information, and be sure to watch the short, fun video here featuring football legend and analyst Terry Bradshaw, who partnered with Pfizer to spread the word about the campaign. We all love Terry for his keen sense of humor, but he knows this is one subject that’s no laughing matter.
Don’t become another statistic. If you’re 65 years or older, talk to your doctor about your own level of risk, and whether vaccination to help prevent pneumococcal pneumonia is right for you.
PP-PNA-USA-3460-3 © 2018 Pfizer Inc. All rights reserved. December 2018
1 Ramirez J. Adults Hospitalized with Pneumonia in the United States: Incidence, Epidemiology and Mortality. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2017; 4: Figure 2.
2 Data on file. Pfizer Inc, New York, NY.
3 U.S. Census Bureau. Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Selected Age Groups by Sex for the United States, States, Counties and Puerto Rico Commonwealth and Municipios: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014.
4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pneumococcal Disease: Symptoms & Complications. http://www.cdc.gov/pneumococcal/about/symptoms-complications.html. Accessed April 4, 2017.
5 Black CL. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6627a4.htm. Retrieved July 17, 2018.