Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 386, Issue 9998, 12–18 September 2015, Pages 1097-1108
The Lancet

Seminar
Community-acquired pneumonia

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60733-4Get rights and content

Summary

Community-acquired pneumonia causes great mortality and morbidity and high costs worldwide. Empirical selection of antibiotic treatment is the cornerstone of management of patients with pneumonia. To reduce the misuse of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance, and side-effects, an empirical, effective, and individualised antibiotic treatment is needed. Follow-up after the start of antibiotic treatment is also important, and management should include early shifts to oral antibiotics, stewardship according to the microbiological results, and short-duration antibiotic treatment that accounts for the clinical stability criteria. New approaches for fast clinical (lung ultrasound) and microbiological (molecular biology) diagnoses are promising. Community-acquired pneumonia is associated with early and late mortality and increased rates of cardiovascular events. Studies are needed that focus on the long-term management of pneumonia.

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