Important things you need to know about pneumococcal pneumonia

pneumococcal pneumonia, like other pneumococcal diseases such as sepsis and meningitis, is one of the leading causes of deaths among children aged less than five years. Streptococcus pneumoniae is the bacteria that cause pneumococcal diseases. However, with adequate prevention and treatment methods, pneumococcal diseases can be controlled. Proper prevention of the disease can not only save the lives of children and the elderly but will also spare their family from unwanted suffering.

What is pneumococcal pneumonia?
Pneumococcal pneumonia is a type of pneumonia that infects the upper respiratory tract (URT). The infection can spread to the middle ear, blood, lungs, and the nervous system. It mainly affects children who are under 5 years and adults who are more than 65 years. The elderly people can get seriously ill and die from the infection. People with medical conditions such as sickle cell anemia, chronic heart/liver/lung diseases, and HIV/AIDS are at higher risk. People who are taking certain antibiotics and who have undergone organ transplants are also prone to this disease.

What are the causes and symptoms?
The disease is caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. It spreads through respiratory droplets from the mouth or nose of a person affected by the disease. The most common symptoms of this disease are high fever, cough, chest pain, rapid breathing, and shortness of breath. Other symptoms are headaches, tiredness, nausea, vomiting, and muscle aches. The disease can be diagnosed by observing the symptoms, conducting a blood test, and undergoing a chest X-ray.

What are the prevention methods available?
It is better to prevent the disease than cure it. Treating pneumococcal pneumoniae is expensive. Low-income families may not be able to afford its treatment. Moreover, the treatment of the disease can sometimes result in deafness. Therefore, certain prevention methods can protect children and older adults against the disease. Here are some of the preventive measures.

Getting adequate nutrition
The first step of prevention is to get adequate nutrition so that the immunity of the body is strong. The chance of children and seniors getting infected by the disease is less for the ones with a well-functioning immune system. Undernourished and underweight children are at a higher risk of getting the disease. Therefore, parents must ensure that their children get adequate nutrition on a daily basis.

Breastfeeding
During the first six months, mothers should breastfeed their babies as these infants are at a lower risk of getting the disease. On the other hand, infants who are not breastfed during the first six months are more susceptible to the disease, as they do not get the proper nutrition that their body needs during this time.

Pneumococcal vaccine
Pneumococcal vaccines can reduce the chances of getting the disease to a large extent. They are available for both adults and children. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people belonging to the following categories must take the vaccine:

• People who are more than 65 years old.
• People with a serious health problem such as sickle cell disease, heart disease, liver cirrhosis, lung disease, or diabetes.
• People with a compromised immune system because of HIV/AIDS, leukemia, or other cancers, and undergoing cancer treatments, which include chemotherapy and ray therapy, treatment with steroid medicines, organ or bone marrow transplant, kidney failure, and a damaged spleen.

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines can prevent the disease among children. Prevention of the disease reduces the need for taking antibiotics.

What are the treatment options?
Treatment of the disease is generally done through antibiotics. To treat the disease properly, the general physician will prescribe antibiotics. The type and duration of antibiotic prescribed depend on various factors such as age, the severity of the disease, clinical symptoms, and local pattern of antibiotic resistance. The symptoms of the disease will go away within one or two days after one starts the course of the antibiotics.

However, Streptococcus pneumoniae is now capable of fighting and resisting antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is a huge concern for doctors today. The reason for antibiotic resistance is misuse or overuse of antibiotics.

Another reason for concern is that the bacteria Streptococcus Pneumoniae invade the bloodstream in around 30% of the people infected with the disease. This results in a serious complication known as bacteremia that can cause certain heart and lung problems; hence the prevention of the disease is more important.

Ongoing research
As pneumococcal pneumonia is a severe disease, professionals from NIAID conduct research on better treatment approaches and prevention techniques to control the disease. They are developing better tools to diagnose the disease. They are also researching the function and structure of microbes. NIAID research has contributed largely to the development of pneumococcal vaccines. They are continually testing and developing new vaccines and treatments that will help treat the disease.