What’s the streptococcal disease?
Pneumococcus — or Streptococcus pneumoniae — bacteriae cause infections including meningitis and pneumonia, especially in small children and the elderly, and according to the WHO kill 1 million children under the age of 5 per year, Intercell said. Streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus, is a gram-positive, encapsulated bacterium and the most common bacterial infection in both industrialized and developing countries. It is the most frequent cause of pneumonia worldwide. It accounts for most cases of bacterial meningitis in adults and it is the most common cause of bacteraemia, pneumonia, meningitis and otitis media in young children. In addition, it causes illness and death among the elderly and immunosuppressed individuals. For children younger than 5 years, it is the most common vaccine-preventable cause of death. The bacterium is surrounded by a polysaccharide capsule and based on the differences in the composition of the capsular polysaccharides, more than 90 different serotypes
