title: Microbial Etiology of Pneumonia: Epidemiology, Diagnosis and Resistance Patterns.
abstract: Globally, pneumonia is a serious public health concern and a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Despite advances in antimicrobial therapies, microbiological diagnostic tests and prevention measures, pneumonia remains the main cause of death from infectious disease in the world. An important reason for the increased global mortality is the impact of pneumonia on chronic diseases, along with the increasing age of the population and the virulence factors of the causative microorganism. The increasing number of multidrug-resistant bacteria, difficult-to-treat microorganisms, and the emergence of new pathogens are a major problem for clinicians when deciding antimicrobial therapy. A key factor for managing and effectively guiding appropriate antimicrobial therapy is an understanding of the role of the different causative microorganisms in the etiology of pneumonia, since it has been shown that the adequacy of initial antimicrobial therapy is a key factor for prognosis in pneumonia. Furthermore, broad-spectrum antibiotic therapies are sometimes given until microbiological results are available and de-escalation cannot be performed quickly. This review provides an overview of microbial etiology, resistance patterns, epidemiology and microbial diagnosis of pneumonia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pneumology, Institut Clinic del Tórax, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona-Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), University of Barcelona, Ciber de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), 08036 Barcelona, Spain. catiacilloniz@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Catia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cilloniz
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Research Organization (MICRO), Welcome Trust-HRB Clinical Research, St James's Hospital, St James's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. drmartinloeches@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Martin-Loeches
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain. carolgv75@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garcia-Vidal
authors.affiliation: Department of Pneumology, Institut Clinic del Tórax, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona-Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), University of Barcelona, Ciber de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), 08036 Barcelona, Spain. sanjose@clinic.cat.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: San Jose
authors.affiliation: Department of Pneumology, Institut Clinic del Tórax, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona-Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), University of Barcelona, Ciber de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), 08036 Barcelona, Spain. atorres@clinic.ub.es.
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torres
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D053717:Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000472:pathogenicity*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: diagnosis; microbial etiology; pneumonia