The Nation - News from Aug. 4, 1989

Health-care providers were warned that less than 10% of people at high risk for a type of infection that can cause pneumonia, meningitis and even death have ever gotten the vaccine for it. The federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said 48 million Americans are at high risk of pneumococcal infections, but a 1985 study found that less than one in 10 of them have ever received the vaccine. The vaccine, a one-time-only shot, is recommended for adults 65 and over and for adults with chronic illnesses such as heart and lung disease, kidney failure, cirrhosis and suppressed immune systems.