Overview
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.
Pneumococcal pneumonia mainly causes illness in children younger than 2 years old and adults 65 years of age or older. The elderly are especially at risk of getting seriously ill and dying from this disease. In addition, people with certain medical conditions such as chronic heart, lung, or liver diseases or sickle cell anemia are also at increased risk for getting pneumococcal pneumonia. People with HIV infection, AIDS, or people who have had organ transplants and are taking medicines that lower their resistance to infection are also at high risk of getting this