From there, they launch widespread invasive infections in the blood, central nervous system, brain, upper and lower respiratory tracts, and ears. They have a particular affinity for the environment in the respiratory tracts and ears of little children. The ear infections they cause account for more than 24 million visits to pediatricians each year. The chart below shows the annual tally of human miseries that begins with S. pneumoniae. Prevention of pneumococcal disease.
Black adults have three to five times greater incidence of bacteremia, compared with white adults.
The worst of the S. pneumoniae infections, of course, are those that get into the bloodstream or central nervous system. Pneumococcal infection causes death in 40,000 people per year, making S. pneumoniae the number one killer among all vaccine-preventable bacterial diseases. About half of the lives lost to pneumococcal infections could be saved through use of the pneumococcal vaccine . Meningitis and bacteremia are the most lethal of the pneumococcal diseases. The highest proportion of deaths from pneumococcal infections occurs among the elderly and people who have underlying medical conditions.