An INTERVIEW with DR. BRYAN CEPEDOZA

about FLU and PNEUMONIA VACCINES CONDUCTED by the Managing Editor of The Bohol Tribune

(Part 2)



Q. There are people who don’t want to be admitted to a hospital. Is it possible that a person get the vaccine without getting admitted to a hospital?

A. Yes! It is possible to get the vaccine without the need for a hospital admission. The vaccines can be administered via a clinic visit. There is no need to be admitted to a hospital. Doctors are moving towards the idea that prevention is better than cure as prevention is cheaper and less risky than getting treatments that tend to be more expensive.

Q.  How will we know that it is time to get vaccinated?

A. Those who need vaccinated are above 60 years old, across the board, and should be given the flu vaccine and get pneumonia vaccine twice and with a five year interval between shots. Another patient population that needs to get vaccinated are those alcoholic, smokers, asthmatics, heart disease patients, as they are possibly symptomatic when infected with flu or pneumonia.

Q. One of our friends is a dialysis patient. Does he need to be vaccinated?

A. All people 60 years old and above with or without health issues need to be vaccinated as they are susceptible to flu and pneumonia and they can be symptomatic. Those who smoke and with asthma, those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), those with liver disease, hypertensive, diabetic, dialysis patients, they should be vaccinated and given priority.

Q. Did I get it right when you said that the flu vaccine is once a year and pneumonia vaccine is twice with an interval of five years?

A. The pneumonia vaccine is given twice with an interval of five years between doses. For example, the pneumonia vaccine is given today, the booster dose will be given after five years.The flu vaccine is given each year as the flu virus changes every year.

Q. Is there an overdose of vaccines?

A. There is no such thing as vaccine overdose as these are well studied and billions of dollars were spent to develop the vaccines and therefore they are safe. (To be continued)