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Invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) is characterized by the growth of Streptococcus pneumoniae in normally sterile body sites, such as blood and cerebrospinal fluid. It may be driven by the organism’s pathogenicity as well as impaired host immune defenses, but neither one is routinely captured in clinical practice. To investigate the latter, researchers measured immunoglobulin (Ig) and M protein levels among 156 adults with IPD (median age, 70) — 153 during acute infection and 76 during convalescence. They also measured the same levels in 64 age- and sex-matched adults without IPD and prospectively followed both groups over time. Most patients in the IPD group had either pneumonia (84%) or meningitis (11%); 30-day mortality was 3%.