How serious is pneumococcal disease?
Pneumococcal disease is a very serious illness in young children. Pneumococcal infections are now the most common cause of invasive bacterial infection in U. S. children. In the United States it is estimated that pneumococcal infections cause 200 deaths, 700 cases of meningitis, 17,000 cases of bacteremia, 4.9 million cases of otitis media (ear infections) annually in children under 5 years of age. Meningitis is the most severe type of pneumococcal disease. Of children under 5 years with pneumococcal meningitis, about 5% will die of their infection and others may have long-term problems such as hearing loss. Many children with pneumococcal pneumonia or blood stream infections will be ill enough to be hospitalized; about 1% of children with blood stream infections or pneumonia with a blood stream infection will die of their illness. Nearly all children with ear infections recover, although children with recurrent infections can suffer hearing loss.
