Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most important bacterial respiratory pathogen. It causes the majority of community-acquired pneumonias and is the most common vaccine-preventable cause of serious childhood infections; in the U.S. it leads to over 150,000 hospitalizations from pneumonia annually. Pneumococcus is also a common co-pathogen with influenza (Morris et al 2017, Borgogna & Voyich 2022, Gierke et al. 2024).
Gierke, R., Wodi A.P., Kobayashi M., Pneumococcal Disease, CDC 2024
Morris, D. E., Cleary, D. W., & Clarke, S. C. (2017). Secondary Bacterial Infections Associated with Influenza Pandemics. Frontiers in microbiology, 8, 1041. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01041
Borgogna, T., & M. Voyich, J. (2022). Examining the Executioners, Influenza Associated Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia. IntechOpen. doi: 10.5772/intechopen.101666
