Pneumococcal disease
Pneumococcal disease is an acute infection caused by the Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria.
There are more than 90 different types of the bacteria.
How it spreads
Many healthy people carry the bacteria in their nose and throat, especially young children.
The bacteria can spread to others by direct oral contact such as:
- kissing
- contact with articles soiled with infected mouth or nose secretions.
Occasionally, the bacteria will cause an infection by invading the body or blood stream.
It is uncommon to get infected from a person who is sick with pneumococcal disease.
Who is at risk
Anyone can get pneumococcal disease, but some groups have a higher risk of getting sick including:
- young children
- the elderly
- any person with a weakened immune system or a chronic illness
- people who smoke.
Having a respiratory viral infection such as influenza may also increase the risk of being infected.
Symptoms
The time between being infected with the bacteria and becoming sick is uncertain but may be as short as one to 3 days.
The symptoms vary depending on which part of the body is affected but usually a fever will be present.
It can cause a variety of severe illnesses including:
- lung infection (pneumonia), which presents as:
- shortness of breath
- cough
- fever
- lack of energy
- sometimes chest pain
- infection around the brain (meningitis), which presents as:
- a headache
- stiff neck
- nausea
- vomiting
- drowsiness
- blood poisoning (septicaemia).
Pneumonia is the most common in the Northern Territory (NT).
The bacteria can also cause less severe but troubling illness such as sinus and ear infections.
Treatment
Pneumococcal disease is treated with antibiotics under a doctor's care.
Prevention
Smoking and smoke exposure increase the risk of pneumococcal disease and should be avoided.
Yearly influenza vaccination will reduce the risk of pneumococcal disease as it can be a complication that follows influenza.
There are conjugate and polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccines, each of which is used:
- in slightly different ways
- to protect against a different number of the pneumococcal bacteria.
Prevenar 20® vaccine
All children are offered this free vaccine at 6 weeks, 4 months and 12 months of age.
An extra free dose is also given to:
- Aboriginal children at 6 months
- children with an increased risk of pneumococcal disease at 6 months or at diagnosis.
Capvaxive® vaccine
Capvaxive®, is recommended and free for:
- adults aged 65 years and over
- Aboriginal adults aged 25 years and over
- adults aged 18 years and over with specified medical conditions that increase their risk of severe disease.
Only one dose of Capvaxive® is required in a lifetime.
For more vaccine information, go to the Australian Government's Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website.
Side effects of the vaccine
Serious side effects are rare. Up to 10% of children may have some redness at the injection site or develop a mild fever.
In adults, local redness and soreness at the injection site for the first couple of days is common.
To find out more about the pneumococcal vaccination recommendations, talk to your doctor or go to the Australian Government's Department of Health website.
Information for health professionals
To find out more, go to the NT Health website.
Contact
For more information, contact your nearest Centre for Disease Control on the NT Health website.