Many with work-related asthma aren’t getting vital vaccine
Adults with asthma are at increased risk for pneumococcal disease, yet according to a new CDC study published today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, just 54 percent of adults with work-related asthma—asthma triggered by an exposure at work—have been vaccinated against the infection. The CDC recommends all adults 19 through 64 years old with asthma get the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine.
The CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) researchers found that adults with work-related asthma were more likely to have reported receiving a pneumococcal vaccine than adults with non-work-related asthma — 54 percent compared with 35 percent, respectively. Among adults with work-related asthma, pneumococcal vaccine coverage was lowest among Hispanics (36 percent), those without health insurance (39 percent), and adults ages 18 to 44 years (42 percent).