The pneumococcal vaccination prevents pneumococcal infections, which can lead to very serious health conditions. In some cases, severe pneumococcal infections can lead to death.
How infections spread
Pneumococcal infections are easily spread from person to person, either by close or prolonged contact with someone who has the infection.
The pneumococcal bacteria are present in tiny droplets that are expelled when someone who is infected breathes, coughs or sneezes. If you breathe in these droplets, you will also be infected.
You can also become infected by touching any droplets that might have landed on a surface, such as a table, and then transferring them to your face.
Once the bacteria have entered your body, usually through your nose or throat, they can either lie dormant (which means they do not cause you any harm, but they could still be passed onto someone else), or multiply and cause health problems such as pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs).
For pneumococcal infections, the incubation period (the time between catching an infection and showing symptoms), is thought to be around one to three days.
Types of infections
Pneumococcal infections are usually one of the following two types.
- Non-invasive pneumococcal infections: these occur outside the major organs and tend to be less serious, for example, otitis media (a middle ear infection).
- Invasive pneumococcal infections: these occur inside a major organ or in the blood and tend to be more serious, for example, meningitis (an infection of the brain).
Every year, in England and Wales, 5-6,000 cases of invasive pneumococcal infections are reported to the Health Protection Agency (HPA). It is estimated that in England, around 3,400 people over 65 years of age die in hospital every year from pneumococcal infections.
For more information, see the Health A-Z topic on Pneumococcal infections.
At-risk groups
Pneumococcal infections are more serious in children, older people and people with certain chronic (long-term) health conditions. This is why these groups of people are offered a pneumococcal vaccination.
