The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Merck 's new vaccine designed to protect adults from a bacteria known as pneumococcus that can cause serious illnesses and a lung infection called pneumonia, the drugmaker said. It's the first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine designed specifically for adults and aims to provide broader protection than the available shots on the market, according to the drugmaker. Healthy adults can suffer from pneumococcal disease. Around 150,000 U.S. adults are hospitalized with pneumococcal pneumonia each year, Platt said. Death from the more serious form of the disease is highest among adults 50 and above, Merck said in a release in December.

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Persons: Merck, Merck's, Heather Platt, Platt Organizations: Drug Administration, CNBC, Centers for Disease Control