Usual symptoms

• Symptoms of pneumococcal infection are different depending on what part of the body is affected. Many people will have fever or chills and feel unwell.
• Middle ear infections are a common type of pneumococcal infection. Between 28 and 55% of middle ear infections (acute otitis media) are caused by pneumococcal disease.²
• Lung infections (pneumonia) are also commonly caused by pneumococcal bacteria.^2,3
• Between 33 and 50% of people who are treated for lung infections (like pneumonia) in hospital have pneumococcal disease.³
   

Less common symptoms

• Pneumococcal bacteria can cause infection of the brain lining (meningitis).²
• They can also cause bloodstream infection (bacteraemia).²

If your adolescent is tested and diagnosed with pneumococcal disease, your local state or territory Public Health Unit (PHU) will be notified. The PHU can provide advice on any public health measures your household should follow. This may include staying home from school or work or wearing a mask.

Adolescents aged under 18 years with certain health or medical conditions are recommended to receive one dose of a pneumococcal vaccine (20vPCV) at diagnosis, or as soon as practical following diagnosis. 

It is recommended that anyone with a newly identified medical or health risk condition that puts them at a higher risk for pneumococcal disease receive additional doses of the pneumococcal vaccine. Health conditions that can increase the chance of pneumococcal disease include lung and heart diseases and having a weakened immune system.

If your adolescent was diagnosed with a certain medical or health risk condition as a baby or young child, they may have already received a vaccine to protect them from pneumococcal disease.

So, your adolescent’s vaccine schedule will depend on:

• how old they are
• when they were first diagnosed with a certain health or medical risk condition putting them at risk for pneumococcal disease
• if they have had a pneumococcal vaccine before
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status
• the state or territory they live in.

Speak with your doctor, nurse or community health worker to understand what pneumococcal vaccine and schedule is recommended for your adolescent.

Pneumococcal vaccines work by ‘training’ your adolescent’s immune system to recognise and get rid of pneumococcal bacteria. The vaccine contains antigens, which are tiny, harmless fragments of the outer layer of pneumococcal bacteria (the bacterial capsule). 

When your adolescent’s immune system detects the antigens in the vaccine, it produces antibodies. These antibodies are like soldiers that recognise and remember the pneumococcal bacterial outer layer. If your adolescent is ever exposed to the real pneumococcal bacteria, their immune system will recognise it quickly and fight it off using the antibodies it created after vaccination.⁴

The pneumococcal vaccine does not contain any blood products and is not a ‘live’ vaccine. The antigens are made synthetically. They cannot reproduce themselves or cause disease.

Pneumococcal disease is more common in people with certain medical risk conditions.⁵ So it is important that adolescents with these conditions follow their recommended pneumococcal vaccine schedule.

No, there is no risk that your adolescent will catch pneumococcal disease from the vaccine, because the vaccine does not contain the live bacteria that cause the disease.

• About 60% of children with risk conditions for pneumococcal disease who get a pneumococcal vaccine (20vPCV) experience mild discomfort or pain where the injection was given. This can last one or two days after receiving the vaccine.¹
• About 61% of children who get a pneumococcal vaccine (20vPCV) are drowsy or tired for a day or two afterwards.⁶
• About 39% of children who get a pneumococcal vaccine (20vPCV) have a reduced appetite after getting the vaccine.⁶
• About 24% of children who get a pneumococcal vaccine (20vPCV) experience a high temperature (fever).⁶

To date, no rare or serious side effects to the pneumococcal vaccine have been found.

Several different strains of pneumococcal bacteria can cause pneumococcal disease. Since pneumococcal vaccines were funded under the National Immunisation Program in 2005, disease rates for the strains covered by the pneumococcal vaccines has decreased greatly.^7,8,9

Sources: (i) Chiu C, Dey A, Wang H et al. Vaccine preventable diseases in Australia, 2005 to 2007. Communicable Diseases Intelligence 2010; 34;supplement December: S1-167; (ii) Updated with data from NNDSS Annual Report Writing Group. Australia’s notifiable disease status, 2010: annual report of the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. Communicable Diseases Intelligence 2012;36:1-69

You can read some answers to common questions here.

If you still have some questions about vaccinations for your adolescent, write them down and make an appointment with your nurse, your doctor or your health worker so you can ask them.