Pneumonia Research

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) supports pneumonia research on more effective prevention and treatment approaches to control pneumonia and its causes, including:

Developing and testing vaccines and treatments for the disease-causing microbes that cause pneumonia
Stimulating pneumonia research on the structure and function of these microbes
Developing better and more rapid diagnostic tools
Understanding the long-term health impact respiratory pathogens have in various populations
Examining the effect of vaccines in high-risk populations
Determining how pneumococcus causes disease and becomes resistant to antibiotics

NIAID pneumonia research has made important contributions to developing the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for children. This vaccine helps prevent pneumococcal diseases in babies and toddlers and is the latest advance in developing vaccines against common bacterial infections.

NIAID supports studies to develop and evaluate improved pneumococcal vaccines for children worldwide. In one such study, NIAID researchers worked with the government of The Gambia (a country in west Africa) and scientists from several international pneumonia research institutions to test a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Health care experts have consistently identified pneumococcus as the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia in The Gambia. In a pattern typical of many developing areas, infant and child mortality rates in The Gambia are high, acute respiratory infections are a leading cause of death, and pneumococcus is the most common cause of these infections.

Results of a four-year, randomized controlled clinical trial showed that the vaccine reduced childhood mortality by 16 percent in children who received the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. The vaccine was 77 percent effective in preventing infections caused by the vaccine serotypes.