Management of patients with community-acquired pneumonia treated in hospital in Sweden

To investigate the management of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) treated in hospital in Sweden, a multicentre retrospective cohort study was performed with medical record review of 982 patients (mean age 63 y) at 17 departments of infectious diseases at hospitals in Sweden. Information on antimicrobial therapy, demographic characteristics, comorbid conditions, physical examination findings, and laboratory and microbiological test results were recorded. Outcome measures were in-hospital mortality and length of hospital stay (LOS). Cultures were obtained from blood in 80% and from sputum in 22% of the patients. A microbiological aetiology was determined for 23% of the patients, with Streptococcus pneumoniae as the dominating agent (9%). The initial antibiotic treatment was mostly given intravenously (78%). Penicillin (50%) or a cephalosporin (30%) was the most common choice. Both of these drugs were usually given as a single agent. The overall mortality was 3.5% and the mean LOS was 6.4 d. Thus, the outcome was favourable despite the empirical antibiotic treatment having a narrow spectrum compared with the broader approach recommended in most recent guidelines on the management of CAP. These findings suggest that a majority of patients who are hospitalized with moderately severe pneumonia can be treated initially with penicillin alone.

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper Mikrobiologi inom det medicinska området hsv//swe
MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES Basic Medicine Microbiology in the medical area hsv//eng
Adolescent
Aged
Cephalosporins/therapeutic use
Cohort Studies
Community-Acquired Infections/ drug therapy/epidemiology
Female
Haemophilus influenzae/isolation & purification
Hospitalization
Humans
Male
Mycoplasma pneumoniae/isolation & purification
Penicillins/therapeutic use
Pneumonia/ drug therapy/epidemiology
Streptococcus pneumoniae/isolation & purification
Sweden
Treatment Outcome

Ortqvist, A. (author)
Ahlqvist, T. (author)
Augustinsson, A. (author)
Beckman, H. (author)
Blanck, C. (author)
Burman, L. A. (author)
Claesson, B. (author)
Qvarfordt, Ingemar,1954Gothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för invärtesmedicin,Institute of Internal Medicine(Swepub:gu)xqvain (author)
Elbel, E. (author)
Erntell, M. (author)
Follin, P. (author)
Goscinski, G. (author)
Holmberg, H. (author)
Hofer, M. (author)
Jorup, C. (author)
Lidman, C. (author)
Lindhusen, E. (author)
Rensfeldt, G. (author)
Rosenkvist, E. (author)
Stenlund, G. (author)
Stalberg, A. (author)
Verngren, K. (author)
Vig, I. (author)
Wendahl, S. (author)
Göteborgs universitetInstitutionen för invärtesmedicin (creator_code:org_t)

About the subject

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES: MEDICAL AND HEAL ...; and Basic Medicine; and Microbiology in ...

Kungliga biblioteket hanterar dina personuppgifter i enlighet med EU:s dataskyddsförordning (2018), GDPR. Läs mer om hur det funkar här.
Så här hanterar KB dina uppgifter vid användning av denna tjänst.