Researchers have found more evidence for the link between pneumonia and heart failure, as they found proof Streptococcus pneumoniae physically damages the heart.
The bacterium, which is the leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia, leaves small lesions on the heart, researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio found.
"If you have had severe pneumonia, this finding suggests your heart may be permanently scarred," said Carlos Orihuela, PhD, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.
Dr. Orihuela and colleagues found the lesions in mouse, rhesus macaque and human autopsy tissue samples.
There is a candidate vaccine in the works that can stop the movement of the infection in to the heart and the toxin that ills heart muscle cells. It helped protect animals against the lesion formation, according to the study.