In October 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended lowering the age for the pneumonia vaccine from 65 to 50 years old. This is a big change and could protect many more adults from serious illnesses caused by pneumococcal bacteria. Pneumococcal disease can affect people of all ages, including babies. Let’s talk about the diseases caused by this bacterium and how you can protect yourself.
What is Pneumococcal disease?
Pneumococcal disease is the name for any infection caused by the bacteria with the scientific name Streptococcus pneumoniae. It is usually called pneumococcus. The name streptococcus refers to the structure of the bacteria. Coccus (plural is cocci) refers to the spherical shape, and strep means the spheres are organized into a long chain. There are many different types of coccus bacteria, including other types of streptococci. Strep throat, for instance, is caused by a different species of streptococcus.Pneumococcus can cause many types of infections, from mild to severe. This includes:
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Ear infection (behind the ear drum)
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Sinus infection
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Pneumonia
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Meningitis – Infection of the lining of the brain and/or spinal cord
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Blood stream infection – also called bacteremia
What are the symptoms and complications of Pneumococcal disease?
The symptoms and complications depend upon the location of the infection.
Mild infections, such as ear and sinus infections, will cause symptoms in the affected area, such as ear pain and fever for the ear infection, and facial pain, headache, sinus congestion, and cough for the sinus infection. Although recurrent ear infections can lead to hearing loss, a single episode of these mild infections rarely causes severe complications.
More severe infections can cause the following symptoms and complications:
Pneumonia:
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Symptoms – Chest pain, cough, fever and chills, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing. Older adults can have more severe disease and may have symptoms of confusion and low alertness associated with low oxygen levels.
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Complications – Collapsed lungs, blocked airways, lung abscesses, spread of infection around the lungs and chest cavity, inflammation of the heart lining, and/or respiratory failure (requiring a ventilator).
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The worst complication is death – Pneumococcal pneumonia kills about 1 in 20 people who get it, with a much higher death rate in older adults.
Meningitis:
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Symptoms – Fever, headache, confusion, stiff neck, and eyes being very sensitive to light. This can progress quickly to low alertness, vomiting, not eating or drinking, especially in babies.
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Complications – Organ failure, septic shock. Babies who survive pneumococcal meningitis can have significant developmental delays. Babies and adults can have hearing loss, seizures, muscle weakness, and/or intellectual or behavioral problems after the infection.
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Again, the worst complication is death – About 1 in 12 children and 1 in 6 adults who get pneumococcal meningitis will die of the infection.
Blood stream infection (bacteremia):
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Symptoms – Fever, chills, low alertness, skin color changes (especially in extremities).
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Complications – Loss of limbs, brain damage, hearing loss, sepsis. Sepsis or septic shock is a life-threatening emergency resulting from the body’s extreme response to infection.
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Again, the risk of death is high. About 1 in 30 children and 1 in 8 adults with pneumococcal bacteremia will die from the infection.
Next week, we will talk more about who is at risk for pneumococcal disease, how it spreads, and how you can protect yourself against this infection.
If you have any questions about Pneumococcal disease, please log into your account and send us your question. We are here to help.
Dr. Anita Bennett MD – Health Tip Content Editor