Courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• brain of a person who died from
  pneumococcal brain infection
• brain is covered with pus

Pneumococcal disease
• can be very dangerous
• thousands of people die from it every
  year, especially adults over 65 years of
  age

Pneumococcal germ
• usually infects the lungs or the brain
• spreads between people by coughing
  and sneezing

Symptoms
• fever
• chills and shaking
• chest pain
• coughing
• fast heart beat
• fast breathing or difficulty breathing

Complications
• lung infections
• brain damage
• death

Adults 65 years of age and older can be can be protected against pneumococcal disease with vaccine. Some younger people, including some children, who are at high risk, need this shot, too.