According to the World Health Organization, pneumonia remains one of the leading causes of death among children under five, killing more than 1.1 million boys and girls. girls every year (WHO pneumonia fact sheet, 2013). ). Pneumonia is more prevalent in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It is well known that pneumonia is a disease of the respiratory system that affects the alveoli, which constitute the constituent part of the lungs. Normally, the alveoli fill with air during breathing in a healthy person, while someone suffering from pneumonia has alveoli filled with fluid and pus; the respiratory process is therefore painful and limits the body's consumption of oxygen. Pneumonia can be caused by several infectious agents, such as bacteria, fungi and viruses. The most common are Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Pneumocystis jiroveci. However, a significant proportion of all pneumonias are caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. In fact, diseases caused by S. pneumoniae also include sinusitis, meningitis, otitis, and some other problems, including septic arthritis, endocarditis, and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (WHO fact sheet on pneumonia, 2013). The main objective of this article is to familiarize the reader with Streptococcus pneumoniae and a particular disease that it causes - pneumonia. Taxonomy, morphology, physiology, virulence factors of Streptococcus pneumoniaeStreptococcus pneumoniae is a bacterium that has the following lineage: Firmicutes ; Bacilli; Lactobacilli; Streptococcaceae; Streptococcus; Streptococcus pneumoniae (NCBI database taxonomy, 2001). Streptococcus pneumoniae is a facultative anaerobe which, after performing a Gram stain, appears as lancet-shaped blue-black cocci, mostly in pairs...... middle of paper... ...nt Streptococcus pneumoniae.2012. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.nu.edu.kz:2686/article/10.1007%2Fs11908-012-0260-x/fulltext.htmlPeters-Golden, M. Pneumonia (Chapter 15). 2010. Breathing in America: Disease, Progress and Hope: p.155. Retrieved from http://www.thoracic.org/education/breathing-in-america/resources/chapter-15-pneumonia.pdfPneumonia Fact Sheet. 2013. World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs331/en/Poll, T., Opal, MS Pathogenesis, treatment and prevention of pneumococcal pneumonia. 2009. Lancet 374: p. 1543-1556. Retrieved from http://www.umcutrecht.nl/NR/rdonlyres/A34BBBAE-1C56-42C1-B308-070A781CE82C/20643/2Review_pneumocpneumonia_poll_opal_lancet.pdfStreptococcus pneumoniae TIGR4. 2001. NCBI Database Taxonomy. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=170187