Managing community-acquired pneumonia

PREVIEW

“Despite extensive studies, there are few medical conditions that are so controversial in terms of management.” Thus does the Infectious Diseases Society of America summarize, in the introduction to its 1998 guidelines, the challenges of devising a treatment plan for community-acquired pneumonia. In this article, Dr Farber addresses the problems of choosing antimicrobial therapy when the pathogen is unknown and of providing adequate coverage without contributing to resistance. In addition, he reviews use of scoring systems to assess mortality risk and discusses treatment approaches that are beneficial in terms of cost, patient compliance, and effectiveness.