Applied Microbiology: Open Access
Open Access

Streptococcus Pneumonia

Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a Gram-positive bactebacrium that is responsible for the majority of community-acquired pneumonia. It is a commensal organism in the human respiratory tract, meaning that it benefits from the human body, without harming it. However, infection by pneumococcus may be dangerous, causing not only pneumonia, but also bronchitis, otitis media, septicemia, and meningitis.S. pneumoniae resides asymptomatically in healthy carriers typically colonizing the respiratory tract, sinuses, and nasal cavity. However, in susceptible individuals with weaker immune systems, such as the elderly and young children, the bacterium may become pathogenic and spread to other locations to cause disease. It spreads by direct person-to-person contact via respiratory droplets and by auto inoculation in persons carrying the bacteria in their upper respiratory tracts. It can be a cause of neonatal infections.S. pneumoniae is the main cause of community acquired pneumonia and meningitis in children and the elderly,and of sepsis in those infected with HIV. The organism also causes many types of pneumococcal infections other than pneumonia. These invasive pneumococcal diseases include bronchitis, rhinitis, acute sinusitis, otitis media, conjunctivitis, meningitis, sepsis, osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, endocarditis, peritonitis, pericarditis, cellulitis, and brain abscess.