title: Chronic and recurrent pneumonia.
abstract: Recurrent pneumonia is defined as two or (usually) more separate episodes of lower respiratory tract infection that generally are accompanied by fever, leucocytosis, and purulent sputum production. These episodes are separated by an asymptomatic interval of at least 1 month or clearing of the chest visible by radiograph. Clinical improvement and radiological clearing should result after appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Chronic pneumonia is an illness that lasts at least 6 weeks and is caused by a microorganism. The chest radiograph usually shows diffuse or focal shadows. The incidence of either chronic or recurrent chest infections is unknown. Neither condition is common, but when present, they frequently present a difficult diagnostic challenge. Chronic pneumonias are usually caused by slow-growing organisms, such as fungi or mycobacteria. Occasionally, chronic pneumonias cannot be diagnosed, even when lung biopsy specimens are cultured or studied histopathologically. When a patient presents with recurrent pulmonary parenchymal infections, the clinician needs to identify the likely etiologies. Possible etiologies are structural abnormalities, underlying medical conditions, and immunological abnormalities, including infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics, IL 60637.
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Geppert
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology; D012008:Recurrence