General Facts and Figures Classification Presentation History Physical Exam Labs Radiology Diagnosis Criteria for diagnosis Differential Microbiology General Specific organisms Pharmacology Drug Classes Mechanism of action Resistance Treatment General Site of care Medication Duration Assessment of response Prevention References Literature cited Complete bibliography Links More...		Treatment General there is currently no standard of care for the treatment of CAP various guidelines have been developed: American Thoracic Society (1993), British Thoracic Society (1993), Canadian Infectious Disease Society (1993), Infectious Disease Society of America (1998); individual institutions may have guidelines as well (see UCSF) treatment must assess the severity of the illness, appropriate setting for treatment (outpatient vs. inpatient), availability of social support, and local susceptibility patterns of common pathogens once the diagnosis of pneumonia is made, treatment should begin promptly until recently there were no guidelines for determining when hospital admission was indicated Fine et al., devised a prediction rule intended to help physicians determine which patients are at low-risk for mortality (30 day) or adverse outcomes and can be considered for outpatient, or very brief inpatient, care 17. This rule has been incorporated into the IDSA guidelines and will be discussed further below. of the pathogens requiring hospitalization, S. pneumoniae is usually first, followed by C. pneumoniae and H. influenzae 18; European studies have found that the pathogens most likely to require admission to an ICU include S. pneumoniae, Legionella, and aerobic Gram-negative rods (AGNRs) 19 Footnotes: 17) Fine MJ, et al., A prediction rule to identify low-risk patients with community-acquired pneumonia, NEJM, 1997 Jan 23, 336(4):243-50. 18) Marrie TJ, Community-acquired pneumonia: epidemiology, etiology, treatment, Infectious Disease Clinics of North America, 1998 Sep, 12(3):723-40. 19) Marrie TJ, Community-acquired pneumonia: epidemiology, etiology, treatment, Infectious Disease Clinics of North America, 1998 Sep, 12(3):723-40.

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