S. pneumoniae is a key pathogen in invasive infection and WHO estimates that 1.6 million people die of severe pneumococcal infections every year. S. pneumoniae is the leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia and may be the most important agent in community-acquired pneumonia of unknown etiology. It is also an important pathogen in severe meningitis. A rapid diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia is important for the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy.

The diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia is based on the presence of clinical signs of pneumonia, lung infiltrates and microbiological findings (microscopy and culture of sputum, culture of blood and presence of urinary pneumococcal antigen). In the clinical situation, it is often difficult to make a truly definite diagnosis. This can only be definite when the patient has symptoms of pneumonia and a positive culture from blood or pleura and this is only seen in 10 to 20% of possible cases.

A rapid diagnosis of pneumococcal infection can be performed by a urinary antigen test, as pneumococcal polysaccharide antigen is excreted in the urine early in infection. Urinary antigen detection provides a simple, rapid method for the diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia. Its advantage is that urine is conveniently collected, stored and transported. The test is an immunochromatographic membrane assay used to detect pneumococcal soluble antigen in human urine. The benefits of this non-invasive method include the ability to pin-point patients at risk and potentially give faster diagnosis of severe pneumococcal infection. As a result patient morbidity and mortality can be positively impacted through earlier and more effective antibiotic therapy.