It is the year 1900, and a young man falls ill, suffering from a shaking chill, sharp chest pain, cough, fever, and headache. These warning signs sound the alarm--he has pneumonia. At that time, in the days before antibiotics, it was often a fatal disease, killing thousands of people, especially during epidemics. Pneumonia--the two primary types being bacterial and viral--is acute infection of the air sacs inside the human lungs. It usually starts in the airways or bronchi and spreads to one or both lungs. Today, when treated properly, most people recover from bacterial pneumonia; however, it remains the sixth most common cause of death among older people in the United States. The very young and very old are especially likely to fall victim to pneumonia, the most common form of which is caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae--bacteria that are transmitted through the air and inhaled into the lungs...