Your health care provider usually will prescribe antibiotics to treat this disease. The symptoms of pneumococcal pneumonia usually go away within 12 to 36 hours after you start taking medicine.

Some bacteria such as S. pneumoniae, however, are now capable of resisting and fighting off antibiotics. Such antibiotic resistance is increasing worldwide because these medicines have been overused or misused. Therefore, if you are at risk of getting pneumococcal pneumonia, you should talk with your health care provider about what you can do to prevent it.