Recognising pneumonia burden through prevention.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is an important cause of otitis media, sinusitis, pneumonia, and invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPDs) such as meningitis, bacteremia, and bacteremic pneumonia. Globally, pneumonia is the leading cause of death in children aged <5 years. After the implementation of routine immunisation with a seven-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) in the United States in 2000, a substantial decline in pneumonia-related hospitalisations among children aged <2 years was observed. In this age group, there was a 39% and 65% reduction in rates of all-cause and pneumococcal pneumonia hospitalisations, respectively, indicating a direct effect of routine immunisation with PCV7.