Absolutely, the flu vacc is recommended for healthy individuals now. Those with chronic disease, especially chronic lung disease would certainly benefit. These individuals would also benefit from taking the pneumonia vacc. as chronic conditions is an indicator for this vaccine. Any source of up-front prevention will not only contribute to the patients quality of life, but save health care resources.

thank you so much Melissa

do you recommended pneumococcal vaccine for family of a patient with asthma?

It depends on your national health system, but certainly in the UK we would recommend the flu vaccine for asthma who are on preventer inhalers, oral steroids, or hospital admissions for their asthma - also:

You’re aged 65 years and over (ie born on or before 31 March 1949)

You’re six months or over and have a health condition that is known to put people at risk of the complications of flu.

You’re at any stage of pregnancy, including if you’ve become pregnant during the winter period

You live in long stay residential homes

You’re the main carer of an older or disabled person

You’re a frontline health/social care worker (vaccinated by your employer as part of an occupational health programme).

We have started giving over 2yr olds the live flu vaccine recently here too, as thought more effective. The http://www.cdc.gov/ is the website for the US that has a-z including vacccines and who should have them etc

Dear Chand

how about pneumococcal vaccine?

In spain, we currently recommend the flu vaccine to all patients with asthma.

We recommend pneumococcal vaccine to all children.

Hi Javad, yes UK give pneumococcal vaccine as part of children vaccinations aged 2 and younger (conjugate vaccine), We also give all aged >65 the polysaccharide vaccine, and those who are aged>2 and at risk such as immunocompromised - as for asthma, in the UK, and aged>2, we give the poysaccharide if the asthma is v severe requiring continuous or frequent systemic steroids - bit of a clinical judgment call and local practice guideline dependent. Hope this helps!

As in UK in Serbia all children suffer from asthma have got pneumococcal vacine (conjugate vaccine) and it protocol includes children from 2 months to 5 years. I think and my colleagues from Paediatric Clinic in Kragujevac that application of pneumococcal vaccine is very important protection from all pneumonoccal diseases. Recently, we hospitalised infant old 45 days with pneumococcal meningitis and encephalitis and sepsis. Clinical current was very serious and with complication as ventriculitis and leukomalatio. This child didn't have chance to be vaccinate by pneumococcal vaccine during first 2 months and from this reason it experience very bad start of life with probabilty to be disabled person, unfortunaly. Immunity in children during first 2 motnhs is very exhausted and/or insufficient to organise against antigens from vaccines as against microorganismes from surroundings. But, maybe is better option to vaccinate children with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine immediately after birth. I expect comments on my observation.

Dear Stojkovic, thank you for your good comment.

have you or know any experience about protection of pneumococcal vaccine could reduced asthma symptoms or attacks?

Yes, I have dear colleague Ghaffari. If atopic infant didn't ill from pneumococcal pneumonia it immunology system didn't start early allergic answer. Atopic infants who illed from pneumococcal pneumonia during first 6 to 12 months of life have more chance to present wheezing and its wheezing will be repeating during follow short time and then it is infantile asthma. If children protect from pneumococc chance to ill from pneumonia is much less and indirect the chance to develop asthma is much less. That mean the protection from pneumocc is imperativ from birth. The question is for all paediatricans and all rest doctors does vaccinate children agaist pneumococc in 1st month of life or delay to the end of second month? What is experience in your surroundings about early vaccinate against pneumococc immediately after birth? What is experience in surroundings of all paediatricans about early vaccinate against pneumococc immediately after birth?