title: Modern Management of Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Is It Cost-Effective and are Outcomes Acceptable?
abstract: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is the most important cause of death from infectious diseases in the developed world and is associated with a high economic burden. Researchers have therefore sought ways to improve CAP outcomes while reducing costs. In this review, we highlight the current evidence supporting modern approaches to CAP management, including the use of severity indices to safely increase the proportion of patients treated at home, the use of procalcitonin to decrease antibiotic use, early intravenous to oral switch of antibiotic therapy, streamlining antimicrobials, and approaches to shorten antibiotic treatment duration. Although promising evidence exists for these modern strategies, there is still a considerable lack of high-quality evidence proving noninferiority of clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, MDCL 3200, 1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8N 3Z5, Canada, mertzd@uhbs.ch.
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mertz
authors.forename: Jennie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Johnstone