Pneumococcal Infections

Pneumonia is a lung disease. Pneumococcal pneumonia can infect the upper respiratory tract and can spread to the blood, lungs, middle ear, or nervous system.

essential of diagnosis:
Productive cough, fever, rigors, dyspnea, early pleuritic chest pain.
consolidating lobar pneumonia on chest x-ray
lancet-shaped gram positive, diplococci or gram stain of sputum.

General considerations
the pneumococcus is the most common cause of community-acquired pyogenic bacterial pneumonia. alcoholism, HIV infections, sickle cell disease, splenectomy, and hematologic disorders are predisposing factors. the mortality rate remains high in the setting if advande age, multilobar disease, severe hypoxemia, extrapulmonary complications, and bacteremia.

Cause of pneumococcal pneumonia

Pneumonia can be caused by a variety of viruses, bacteria, and sometimes fungi. Pneumococcal pneumonia is caused by bacteria called Streptococcus pneumoniae. S. pneumoniae is also called pneumococcus.

Transmission of pneumococcal pneumonia

Pneumococcus is spread through contact between people who are ill or who carry the bacteria in their throat. You can get pneumococcal pneumonia from respiratory droplets from the nose or mouth of an infected person. It is common for people, especially children, to carry the bacteria in their throats without being sick.

Other bacteria and germs also can cause pneumonia. Therefore, if you have any of the symptoms of pneumonia, you should get diagnosed early and start taking medicine, if appropriate.

Your health care provider can usually diagnose pneumococcal pneumonia by finding S. pneumoniae bacteria in your blood, saliva, or lung fluid.

Pneumococcal pneumonia treatment

Your health care provider usually will prescribe antibiotics to treat this disease. The symptoms of pneumococcal pneumonia usually go away within 12 to 36 hours after you start taking medicine.

Some bacteria such as S. pneumoniae, however, are now capable of resisting and fighting off antibiotics. Such antibiotic resistance is increasing worldwide because these medicines have been overused or misused. Therefore, if you are at risk of getting pneumococcal pneumonia, you should talk with your health care provider about what you can do to prevent it.

Pneumococcal pneumonia prevention

The pneumococcal vaccine is the only way to prevent getting pneumococcal pneumonia. Vaccines are available for children and adults.

The Vaccines and Immunizations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that you get the pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine if you are in any of the following groups.

* You are 65 years old or older
* You have a serious long-term health problem such as heart disease, sickle cell disease, alcoholism, lung disease (not including asthma), diabetes, or liver cirrhosis
* Your resistance to infection is lowered due to
o HIV infection or AIDS
o Lymphoma, leukemia, or other cancers
o Cancer treatment with x-rays or medicines
o Treatment with long-term steroid medicines
o Bone marrow or organ transplant
o Kidney failure or kidney syndrome
o Damaged spleen or no spleen
* You are an Alaskan Native or from certain Native American populations

NIP also recommends that all babies and children younger than 2 years old get the pneumococcal vaccine.

Contact your health care provider to find out whether you or your child should be vaccinated to prevent pneumococcal pneumonia.

Possible complications of pneumococcal pneumonia

In about 30 percent of people with pneumococcal pneumonia, the bacteria invade the bloodstream from the lungs. This causes bacteremia, a very serious complication of pneumococcal pneumonia that also can cause other lung problems and certain heart problems.

Pneumococcal pneumonia research

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) supports research on more effective prevention and treatment approaches to control pneumonia and its causes, including

* Developing and testing vaccines and treatments for the disease-causing microbes that cause pneumonia
* Stimulating research on the structure and function of these microbes
* Developing better and more rapid diagnostic tools
* Understanding the long-term health impact respiratory pathogens have in various populations
* Examining the effect of vaccines in high-risk populations
* Determining how pneumococcus causes disease and becomes resistant to antibiotics

NIAID research has made important contributions to developing the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for children. This vaccine helps prevent pneumococcal diseases in babies and toddlers and is the latest advance in developing vaccines against common bacterial infections.

NIAID supports studies to develop and evaluate improved pneumococcal vaccines for children worldwide. In one such study, NIAID researchers worked with the government of Gambia (a country in west Africa) and scientists from several international research institutions to test a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Health care experts have consistently identified pneumococcus as the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia in Gambia. In a pattern typical of many developing areas, infant and child mortality rates in Gambia are high, acute respiratory infections are a leading cause of death, and pneumococcus is the most common cause of these infections.

Results of a four-year, randomized controlled clinical trial showed that the vaccine reduced childhood mortality by 16 percent in children who received the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. The vaccine was 77 percent effective in preventing infections caused by the vaccine serotypes. For more information about this study, visit the Gambia Pneumococcal Vaccine Trial.