title: Oral antibiotics for pneumonia.
abstract: The majority of patients presenting with community-acquired pneumonia can be treated with oral antibiotics and can be managed successfully as outpatients. Oral-antibiotic selection requires a knowledge of the classes of antibiotics available, utility of diagnostic testing, epidemiology of pneumonia, and a rational approach to empiric therapy when a cause cannot be immediately identified. These topics are reviewed, with the goal improved therapeutic efficacy in the oral treatment of pneumonia.
authors.affiliation: Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Virginia Mason Clinic, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Hampson
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Woolf
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Springmeyer
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000145:classification / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents