Doctors have urged people aged 65 and over to be vaccinated against a type of pneumonia which leads to about 5,000 hospital admissions and 500 deaths each year.
The once-off vaccination is recommended for the first time under new immunisation guidelines drawn up by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.
The vaccine is effective against the pneumococcus strain of pneumonia, which accounts for up to half of all forms of pneumonia. "The pneumococcus is the most common cause of pneumonia in Ireland and can also lead to overwhelming infections of the blood, heart, joints and gut," Dr Declan Bedford, public health specialist with the North Eastern Health Board, said. "It is associated with a high death rate of 5 to 10 per cent of those admitted to hospital.
"Pneumococcal resistance to antibiotics is now a reality affecting about 9 to 10 per cent of isolated bacteria, which further strengthens the case for vaccination," he said.
He explained that the vaccine, available free to medical-card holders and costing private patients about £15, was not an alternative to the flu vaccine which elderly people and those with respiratory problems were advised to get annually.
He expects the demand for both the flu and this latest pneumococcal vaccination to increase in light of the recent outbreak of respiratory infection and pneumonia in Ireland.