More than half of adults with asthma spurred by work-related exposures are vaccinated against pneumococcal disease, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.
For the study, researchers with the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health analyzed the results of a state-based behavioral risk factor telephone survey conducted from 2012 to 2013. The survey included 10,000 asthmatic adults. Researchers estimated 15 percent of these asthma cases were related to workplace exposures. More than 300 substances in the workplace can either cause or exacerbate asthma.
Researchers found pneumococcal vaccine coverage was lowest among Hispanics (36 percent), the uninsured (39 percent) and adults aged 18 to 44 (42 percent). Overall, just 54 percent of adults with work-related asthma report pneumococcal vaccination.
"People with work-related asthma are particularly vulnerable to pneumococcal pneumonia," said NIOSH Director John Howard, MD. "Vaccination is the best way to prevent pneumococcal disease, including pneumonia, and CDC recommends that all adults with asthma, whether work-related or not, get the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine."
About 900,000 Americans contract pneumococcal pneumonia every year. About 5 percent to 7 percent of cases are fatal, according to the CDC.
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