A rise in vaccine-resistant bacteria shows the need for a new vaccine to fight childhood empyema after a spike in hospitalisations, a new UNSW study reveals.
Conjoint Professor at UNSW Medicine and respiratory disease expert Christine Jenkins says COVID pneumonia happens when the virus invades the lungs and causes an inflammatory reaction that compromises the function of the lung.
Action is urgently needed to address declining vaccination rates against pneumococcal pneumonia, which causes more than 2,000 deaths each year in people aged over 65.
There are calls for the frail and elderly not be be overlooked for vaccines against pneumonia this winter, with UNSW research challenging conventional wisdom on immunisation effectiveness in older patients.
