Pneumonia is the leading global cause of childhood death outside of the neonatal period, and contributes to 19% of the 10 million childhood deaths occurring annually, the majority of which occurs in industrialising countries. Despite the successes in improving primary healthcare in South Africa since 1994, pneumonia nevertheless remains a leading cause of childhood death in South Africa, aggravated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Streptococcus pneumoniae is recognised as the leading bacterial cause of pneumonia in children as well as having been identified as a common cause of super-imposed bacterial infection in individuals with respiratory virus-associated pneumonia.