Pneumococcal Disease

Pneumococcal disease is caused by infection with the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (also known as pneumococcus).¹ Pneumococcal disease actually refers to a range of illnesses, from mild infections of the middle ear, to pneumonia and life-threatening infections of the bloodstream and central nervous system.¹

Invasive pneumococcal disease, which occurs when pneumococcus causes systemic infections such as septicaemia, pneumonia and meningitis, is a major cause of illness and death worldwide.¹ All age groups are affected; however, young children, the elderly and those with an absent or non-functioning spleen or other causes of impaired immunity are particularly vulnerable. Around 1 million children die each year of pneumococcal disease, mostly in developing countries.² In the developed world, the disease has a mortality rate of 10-20%, with elderly people most at risk.²

Why vaccinate?

Vaccines have played a crucial role, particularly in the second half of the twentieth century, in protecting millions of people from life-threatening infections. In the UK and Europe, the almost complete disappearance of childhood diseases (e.g. polio), which used to kill and disable, could not have been achieved without vaccines.

Vaccination is the best way to prevent pneumococcal disease.