People with Spinal Muscular Atrophy are more prone to respiratory infections. Due to weakened respiratory muscles the ability to cough is restricted, causing difficulty clearing secretions in the throat and lungs. Retained secretions are more likely to become infected which can lead to pneumonia and other infections.
Spinal Muscular Atrophy Types II & III are not themselves life threatening, however the risk of respiratory infection can be. This statement is not aimed at creating panic, it is simply meant to highlight the potential need for prompt and vigorous intervention. There are several simple techniques, which can be used to reduce the risk of developing a severe respiratory infection.
This leaflet deals with pneumococcal vaccination.
(We have other leaflets dealing with flu vaccination and antibiotics.)
Facts about Pneumococcal Disease
Pneumococcal disease is an infection caused by bacteria. These bacteria can attack different parts of the body. When they invade the lungs, they cause the most common kind of bacterial pneumonia.
Can Pneumonia be prevented?
There are many different kinds of pneumonia, and having had one kind of pneumonia does not protect against the others. The pneumococcal vaccine, however, does protect against 88 percent of the pneumococcal bacteria that cause pneumonia. It does not guarantee that you will never get pneumonia and it does not protect against viral pneumonia.
The pneumococcal vaccine is available through your GP, and one injection lasts most people a lifetime.
Who should get the Vaccine?
Current guidelines for the management of children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy types II and III are:
- Prevenar (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine) should be offered to all children under 2 years of age: three single doses to be given at 2, 3, and 4 months of age or two doses to be given one month apart if the child is aged 5 - 24 months.
- After the second birthday, all children should receive a single dose of Pneumovax (pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine), including children who have previously been given Prevenar.
Are there Side Effects?
Some people have mild side effects from the vaccination, but these are usually minor and last only a very short time. In studies, about half of the people getting the vaccine had mild side effects - swelling and soreness at the spot where the vaccine was given, usually on the arm. A few people (less than 1 percent) had fever and muscle pain as well as more serious swelling and pain on the arm. The pneumonia injection cannot cause pneumonia because it is not made from the bacteria itself, but from an extract that is not infectious. (The same is true of the flu jab, it cannot cause flu.) In fact, people can get the pneumonia vaccination and a flu vaccination at the same time. | 
