All You Need to Know About Pneumococcal Pneumonia in Children

Newborn kids are quite prone to bacterial and viral infections. Their body is not used to the outside environment when they are born, and because of low resistance to these infections, they can fall sick quite easily. One such issue that kids are known to face these days is pneumococcal pneumonia. It is a kind of bacterial infection that happens due to Streptococcus pneumoniae. This bacterial infection is so severe that it can cause infections in various parts of the body including the brain, bloodstream, lungs, middle ear, and sinus.

How does the infection spread?
Research shows that about fifty percent of the people are carriers of this bacterial infection at any given point in time. However, kids are more likely to contract this disease because of their low immunity. Pneumococcal pneumonia spreads when kids inhale the bacteria from the infected air or physically consume something that might be infected. The contagion can be passed on by normal activities like sneezing, coughing, or through the exchange of saliva. It is one of the reasons why you should not share food, straw or drinks with your child. Try to avoid shared dishes as well. Preventing your child from putting everything in their mouth will also help in warding off this disease.

What are the symptoms of pneumococcal pneumonia?
As mentioned before, the disease can affect various parts of the body. Depending upon the area affected by pneumococcal pneumonia, the symptoms have been explained as follows:

• If the bacteria infects the brain, then the child can suffer from meningitis. The symptoms of meningitis are vomiting, nausea, seizures, headaches, persistent crying, and drowsiness.
• If the bacteria get into the bloodstream, it can result in high fever, headache, nausea, and loss of appetite in your child. If your child is exhibiting these symptoms, you should visit a doctor for further references and tests.
• In the case of lung infections, the child experiences chest pain due to a persistent cough and discharge of yellow mucus.

How to prevent the infection?
The best way to prevent pneumococcal pneumonia is to make sure that your child gets vaccinated. The pneumococcal vaccine has all the necessary ingredients that can ward off the disease as well as the related bacteria within a stipulated span.