Pneumococcal Pneumonia - Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Introduction

Pneumococcal pneumoniae is bacterial, which affects a person's lungs and causes pneumonia or lung infection. The bacterial infection can cause disease in the upper respiratory tract and may also spread to other regions such as the middle ear, nervous system, and bloodstream. Pneumococcal pneumonia is most prevalent in adults 65 years old and above and young children up to five years of age. The symptoms caused by these infections are more severe and life-threatening in older adults. Also, people suffering from medical conditions such as sickle cell anemia and chronic lung, heart, and liver diseases are at a higher risk of acquiring the infection. Moreover, people who have undergone organ transplants or have HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) or AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) and are taking certain medications that can compromise their resistance to infectious diseases are also at risk of getting pneumococcal disease.

What Are the Symptoms of Pneumococcal Pneumonia?

The symptoms of Pneumococcal Pneumoniae are:

• Cough.

• High fever.

• Shortness of breath.

• Chest pain.

• Rapid breathing.

• Difficulty breathing.

• Headache.

• Vomiting.

• Nausea.

• Muscle ache.

• Tiredness.

• Weakness.

What Are the Risk Factors for Pneumococcal Disease?

For Children:

• Cochlear implant.

• Chronic kidney, heart, and lung disease.

• Diabetes.

• Nephrotic syndrome.

• Cerebrospinal fluid leakage.

• Organ transplant, HIV, cancer.

• Spleen damage.

• Sickle cell disease.

For Adults:

• Smoking.

• Alcoholism.

• Cerebrospinal fluid leakage.

• Organ implants, cancer, HIV.

• Cochlear implant.

• Diabetes.

• Chronic liver, kidney, and heart conditions.

• Spleen damage.

• Sickle cell disease.

• Nephrotic syndrome.

How to Diagnose Pneumococcal Pneumoniae?

The diagnosis of Pneumococcal pneumoniae includes:

• Physical examination.

• The doctor also looks for the signs and symptoms of Pneumococcal pneumoniae disease.

• Blood and urine tests also help the doctor to make the diagnosis clear.

• A bacterial culture test is also used in the diagnostic process.

• The doctor also advises chest X-rays to check the lung infection.

What Are the Treatment Options for Pneumococcal Pneumoniae?

The doctor mainly treats pneumococcal pneumoniae and related infections with antibiotics therapy. The symptoms of these infections usually subside in 12 to 36 hours of taking medication. However, various conditions have resisted these antibiotics due to misuse and overuse globally. Therefore, a person must consult the healthcare provider for better guidance and treatment. The doctor may start the therapy against pneumococcal infections with broad-spectrum antibiotics, or they can give specific antibiotics.

How to Prevent Pneumococcal Infections?

• Pneumococcal infections can be prevented by being vaccinated for pneumococcal diseases. There are two main types of pneumococcal vaccines: pneumococcal conjugate and polysaccharide. These vaccines are effective against a wide variety of pneumococcal bacteria but not all, but they can reduce the chance of getting infected with this bacteria to some extent.

• People with other medical conditions, such as liver, heart, lung disease, alcoholism, and sickle cell disease, must get vaccinated for pneumococcal infections as they are more at risk.

• Also, children under five and adults over 65 receive the vaccination.

• People with a low resistance to infection due to cancer treatments, organ or bone marrow transplant, HIV or AIDS, spleen damage, or leukemia.

• A person once affected with a pneumococcal infection can get infected again. Therefore, one must get vaccinated even after recovering from pneumococcal disease.

What Are the Complications of Pneumococcal Pneumonia?

• It can cause inflammation of the heart's outer lining (pericarditis).

• The infection can also cause disease in the chest cavity and around the lungs (emphysema).

• Pneumococcal pneumonia can also lead to a collection of pus or abscess formation in the lungs. It can even cause airway blockage and collapse in the lungs.

What Are the Other Complications Caused by Pneumococcal Bacteria?

Pneumococcal bacteria cause various infections, and the symptoms usually depend upon the infected area. The symptoms caused by these bacteria are generally mild, but they can also be fatal or have long-term effects on a person’s health. Various pneumococcal infections and their symptoms are:

• Blood Infections: Pneumococcal bacteremia is a blood infection caused by the bacteria, and it can cause low alertness, fever, and chills in an infected person. Almost one out of 8 adults and one out of 30 children die from this bacterial infection. In addition, the condition can cause loss of limbs in people who survive.

• Meningitis: It is is the pneumococcal infection of the inner lining of the spinal cord and brain that causes symptoms like headache, stiff neck, fever, confusion, and photophobia. This condition can cause death in one out of 6 adults and 1 out of 12 children. In addition, meningitis can lead to poor drinking and eating, vomiting, and low alertness in babies. Also, meningitis can cause long-term health problems, developmental defects, and hearing loss in survival cases.

• Sepsis: Pneumococcal bacteria can cause sepsis in a person in extreme response to bacterial infection. The symptoms caused are fever, high heart rate, shivering, disorientation, confusion, discomfort, severe pain, sweaty skin, and shortness of breath. In the worst-case scenario, sepsis can cause damage to the heart, brain, lungs, and kidney failure.

• Sinus Infection: The sinus infection causes symptoms such as headache, facial pain, running nose, loss of smell sensation, and mucus collection in the back of the nose or throat. The sinus infection rarely causes serious complications but can infect the surrounding tissues of the eyes, cause abscess formation, and bone infection.

• Middle Ear Infection: It is the infection caused in the otitis media or middle ear region, and the symptoms caused are fever, ear pain, sleeplessness, and swollen or red eardrums.

Conclusion

Pneumococcal pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that can be fatal and require immediate hospitalization of an infected person. The disease can infect people from any age group, especially children and elderly adults. The infection is transmitted from one person to the other through contact or respiratory droplets from the mouth and nose of the infected person. Some people, especially children, can also carry the infection or bacteria in the throat without producing any symptoms and infect the person around them. Pneumococcal diseases can be life-threatening if not treated on time. Therefore, the person must have an immediate medical intervention for better outcomes and prognosis.