Prevnar® 13 is a safe and effective vaccine that protects against 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria.
It replaces Prevnar® and is approved by Health Canada. In British Columbia it is provided free as part of your child’s routine vaccines. Ask your public health nurse or family doctor for more information.
Yes. Almost half (44%) of the 90 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease in children under five years old in BC in the past three years could have been avoided with the added protection against the six new strains included in Prevnar® 13. The number of cases of invasive pneumococcal disease in children will continue to be tracked carefully.
All infants will be offered Prevnar® 13 as part of their regular vaccinations. Those who have started their series will be given Prevnar® 13 for their next planned dose.
Children who are at high risk of getting seriously ill if infected with pneumococcal bacteria will continue to receive an additional dose at 6 months of age. High risk children who have already finished their series with Prevnar® but are less than 5 years old will be offered an extra dose of Prevnar® 13.
High risk children have:
- no spleen, or a spleen that is not working properly
- sickle-cell disease
- an immune system weakened by disease or medical treatment
- chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis B or C
- chronic kidney, heart or lung disease
- an islet cell or solid organ transplant, or a cochlear (inner ear) implant, or are waiting for one
- had a stem cell transplant
- Diabetes, cystic fibrosis or a chronic cerebrospinal fluid leak.
The schedule is the same as it was for Prevnar®:
- Healthy infants get three doses of this vaccine at 2, 4 and 12 months of age.
- High risk infants get 4 doses of this vaccine at 2, 4, 6 and 12 months of age.
- Also, high risk children who are less than five years old and have completed their four doses of Prevnar® will be given an extra dose of Prevnar®13 (at least eight weeks after 4th dose of Prevnar®) to protect them against the 6 added strains.
Yes. This vaccine is very safe. It is much safer to get the vaccine than to get pneumococcal disease, which can be very serious. The safety of this vaccine was assessed in 13 clinical trials, in which approximately 15,000 doses were given to 4,729 healthy infants who were six weeks to 16 months of age.
Common reactions to the vaccine may include soreness, redness and swelling where the injection was given. Some children may also have fever, or experience sleepiness, crankiness or a loss of appetite. These reactions are mild and generally last one to two days.
With any vaccine, there is an extremely rare possibility (less than one in a million people) of a life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. For this reason it is important to remain in the clinic for 15 minutes after getting Prevnar®13. Signs of this reaction may include rash, difficulty breathing, or swelling of the throat, tongue or lips. This reaction can be treated. Any unexpected or serious reaction to a vaccine should be reported to your health care professional.
Speak with a public health nurse or doctor if your child has had a life threatening reaction to a previous dose of pneumococcal vaccine, or to any part of the vaccine.
It's an infection caused by pneumococcal bacteria, which can cause ear infections, sinus infections, or lung infections (pneumonia). More serious cases can be deadly.
Many pneumococcal infections are mild, but sometimes can “invade” parts of the body that are normally free from germs. Pneumococcal bacteria can invade the blood, causing an infection called bacteremia, and/or the fluid around the brain and spinal cord, causing an infection called meningitis. These infections are called “invasive pneumococcal disease”. When this happens, disease is usually very severe, causing hospitalization, residual disability, or even death.
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