If you have a frail elderly relative, living either at home or in a nursing home, and she comes down with pneumonia—though the only symptom of the disease may be confusion—she’ll probably need to be hospitalized. She’ll be treated with intravenous antibiotics, oxygen, and respiratory therapy, since a case of pneumonia that’s easy to treat in a 40-year old can be life-threatening in an elderly patient.
I strongly believe that the Pneumovax vaccine, which helps prevent bacterial pneumonia, should be given to every man and woman over the age of 65, as well as people of any age who are smokers or diabetics or have had their spleens removed. Also, viral influenza can quickly turn into bacterial pneumonia in the elderly, so I recommend that all elderly persons should get a flu shot every year.
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