A 23-year-old male presents to the emergency department with a 3-day history of high fever, right-sided chest pain, cough with rusty sputum after catching a cold. Chest X-ray shows a large area of dense shadow in the right lower lobe. A diagnosis of Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia is suspected. Regarding the pathogenicity and pathological changes of the causative organism, which of the following statements is incorrect?