The antibiotic treatment of community-acquired, atypical, and nosocomial pneumonias

Abstract

Optimal antibiotic regimens and duration of treatment are not universally agreed on for community-acquired or nosocomial pneumonias. Experience suggests that community-acquired pneumonias may be treated for less than 2 weeks with a combination of intravenous and oral antibiotics of appropriate spectrum that penetrate the lung, have a good safety profile, do not foster the development of resistance, and are cost-effective. After initial intravenous therapy, oral switch therapy may be begun as soon as the patient defervesces clinically, which is usually 3 days after admission. Switching to oral therapy does not invariably lead to earlier hospital discharge. There is no "standard of care" for pneumonias, but guidelines for empiric use have existed for decades. The least expensive beta-lactamase stable antibiotic should be used as monotherapy for the empiric treatment of community-acquired pneumonia. Because community-acquired atypical pneumonias are clinically distinct from bacterial pneumonias owing to their extrapulmonary features, clinicians should be able to differentiate atypical pneumonias from bacterial pneumonias, which permits prompt and appropriate treatment. Nosocomial pneumonias remain a difficult diagnostic challenge. Therapeutically the most important principle in treating nosocomial pneumonia is to provide for double-drug coverage against P. aeruginosa. Differentiation of respiratory tract colonization from respiratory tract invasion remains the central key issue in patients with pulmonary infiltrates acquired during hospitalization. Most patients complete their course of intravenous therapy for nosocomial pneumonia leaving little or no time for completion of their therapy by oral antibiotics. Hospital-acquired atypical pneumonias are largely limited to legionnaires' disease, which is a more difficult diagnosis than in the community-acquired setting. Clinicians taking care of patients with pneumonia should employ a simplified therapeutic approach using a single drug for community-acquired infections. The use of additional antibiotics to increase gram-negative coverage is medically unjustified and not cost-effective and is to be discouraged. The most cost-effective strategy for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonias is to switch the patient from an intravenous to an oral antibiotic as soon as the patient clinically defervesces and is able to take oral medications. Antimediator therapies have no role in the treatment of community-acquired or nosocomial pneumonias.