Reply To: Prevnar 13 Question

I had Pneumonia as a result of taking Prednisone for my CIDP. A year later, I was offered the same vaccine you were. My Neurologist (at a Center of Excellence) said there was a risk the shot would trigger my CIDP. This was because my auto-immune system already knew how to create anti-bodies that attack “self” in response to such infections, whether the vaccine was inactive or not at the time of injection. I opted to take no risk of CIDP returning. It has the worst downside potential for me. My feeling is that Pneumonia is a lesser disease and easier to treat than CIDP. The risk of reactivating my CIDP, now in remission, was not warranted in my opinion. But not everyone is the same and you must make your own decision.