Current Problems of the Pneumonias

Abstract

Review1 January 1962Current Problems of the PneumoniasHOBART A. REIMANN, M.D., F.A.C.P.HOBART A. REIMANN, M.D., F.A.C.P.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-56-1-144 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptStatistical data lead to an impression that the problem of pneumonia is well in hand. Yet, as a cause of death, pneumonia has fallen only from third to sixth in rank (1). The accelerated decline in the death rate after 1938, shown in Figure 1, was caused almost entirely by the cure of acute pneumococcic lobar pneumonias with antimicrobics. The lowest rate of 13 per 100,000, reached in 1950, rose to 20 in 1960. Pneumonias responsible for that segment of the curve provide current problems of prevention and treatment.Statistics themselves are problems. There are about 50 specific kinds of...