Streptococcus pneumoniae

(Strep-toe-cock-us new-moan-eeh-ay)

A spherical ball-shaped bacterial cell.

Most cocci don’t exist on their own, and group together in one of the other forms shown on this website - in pairs (diplococcus), groups of four (tetrads), clusters or chains.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is often found growing naturally in our body without causing us any harm — this is what we call a commensal bacterium. It can be found living in the nasal cavity, deep in our nose.

BUT sometimes Streptococcus pneumoniae takes the chance to cause disease in people who are already unwell. It then grows in the airways and causes damage to the lungs in what we call ‘pneumonia’ (lung infection). 🤒

In the UK, all children are vaccinated against Streptococcus pneumoniae, since 2010.