(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- People who suffer from asthma have at least double the risk for contracting invasive pneumococcal disease than people without asthma do, according to a new study.

Invasive pneumococcal disease is a bacterial infection that can affect body parts such as the lungs and brain and can result in pneumonia and meningitis.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., examined 635 people, between ages 2 and 49 with invasive pneumococcal disease, 114 of whom had asthma. They compared them to 6,350 people without invasive pneumococcal disease, 635 of whom had asthma.

Results show the annual occurrence of pneumococcal disease was about 4 in 10,000 people with high-risk asthma, about 2 in 10,000 people with low-risk asthma, an about 1 in 10,000 people without asthma.

Authors conclude, “Asthma is an independent risk factor for invasive pneumococcal disease. The risk among persons with asthma was at least double that among controls."