Children in the U.S. with pneumococcal syndrome before immunization 2009

This statistic displays the number of cases of pneumococcal syndromes annually among U.S. children under five, before childhood pneumococcal immunization, as of 2009. There were 700 annual cases of meningitis annually among such children in the United States. Almost everyone experiences a pneumococcal infection during childhood and is one of the most important causes of bacterial meningitis, pneumonia, and ear infections (otitis media). Pneumococci are bacteria that normally inhabit nasopharynx without causing disease, unless it is spread to the ears, lungs, or other organs in the body.