title: Empiric therapy of community-acquired pneumonia.
abstract: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains a common and serious clinical problem despite the availability of potent antibiotics and aggressive supportive measures. The management of CAP begins with recognition of the likely pathogens causing the illness in the individual patient; identification of several simple clinical clues allows the organization of the broad variety of possible organisms into a more manageable list of likely pathogens. Once the most likely pathogens are identified, then initial antibiotics may be chosen to cover those possibilities. A number of treatment guidelines have been introduced in the past 10 years, most of which share more similarities than differences. We review 2 of the more established guidelines, those published by the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). We also review the likely modifications of the ATS guidelines and discuss the impact of bacterial resistance on antibiotic choices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine and Clinical Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, 71130, USA.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: San Pedro
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006801:Humans; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents