Risk factors for pneumococcal infection

The risk factors for pneumococcal infection include:

• immunocompromise:
  • primary and secondary immunoglobulin deficiencies:
    • hypogammaglobulinaemia
    • IgG subtype deficiencies
    • specific antibody deficiencies
    • B cell malignancy
  • phagocyte dysfunction:
  • neutropaenia
    • hyposplenism
    • cirrhosis of the liver
  • complement deficiency:
  • C2 or C3 deficiency
    
    
• non-immunological compromise:
  • skull fracture
  • disruption of bronchial epithelium:
    • influenza
    • smoke inhalation
  • eustachian tube obstruction
• decreased tissue perfusion:
  • heart failure
  • sickle cell anaemia
    
    
• physiological:
  • age less than 2 years
  • pneumococcal infections are more common in adults over 50 years of age; patients over 65 years are 2-5 times more likely to develop pneumococcal infection than the general population (1)

Reference:

• Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (1998), 36 (10), 73-6.