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Risk factors for pneumococcal infection

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

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.

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