[Pneumococcal vaccination for persons 65 years of age and older]

In the Netherlands, in contrast to other countries, pneumococcal vaccination for older people and people at risk is not routine, except for patients under special circumstances, such as after a splenectomy. Although pneumococcal vaccination is an effective way to prevent invasive pneumococcal disease in young healthy persons, there is no conclusive evidence that it is effective in older people and people at risk without a good immune response. Pneumococcal disease can be an important complication of an ordinary flu. Because there is a high level of vaccination against influenza in the Netherlands, the risk of pneumococcal disease is low compared to other countries in the world. Adding a pneumococcal vaccine to the influenza vaccination could decrease the degree of protection against influenza. The experimental introduction of pneumococcal vaccination does not seem to lead to an increase in the number of patients that refuse vaccination against influenza.