ESPN Reporter Ed Aschoff's Death: How Often Does Pneumonia Kill Healthy Adults?

"Anyone can get pneumonia, and it can be severe," a pulmonologist said

Rich Arden/ESPN Images via AP

The news that ESPN reporter Ed Aschoff died on his 34th birthday after being treated for pneumonia is a reminder, experts said, of how deadly the infection can be, even in otherwise healthy young people, NBC News reports.

ESPN said Aschoff died on Tuesday after a brief illness, without elaborating on a cause of death. Aschoff tweeted on Dec. 5 that he had pneumonia.

While often thought of as an illness that affects the sick and the elderly, and while older adults, people with weakened immune systems and young children are more at risk, pneumonia can strike indiscriminately, said Dr. Humberto Choi, a pulmonologist at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. (Choi was not involved with Aschoff's case.)

"This is an example that anyone can get pneumonia, and it can be severe, even when that person is in good health," Choi told NBC News.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com.

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