Nonresponses and treatment failures with conventional empiric regimens in patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

Nonresponses and treatment failures with conventional empiric regimens in patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

Tan James S

Infectious disease clinics of North America

2004

2004-12

Although most patients with suspected CAP respond to empiric therapy,a small number of patients do not respond in the expected fashion. Age and underlying comorbid conditions have a strong influence on the course of illness. Less common causes of treatment failures include overwhelming infection, antimicrobial resistance, and misdiagnosis. It is a common practice for empiric antimicrobial treatment of CAP to be initiated without microbiologic studies. Clinicians carefully should observe these patients for unusual or slow responses and should be ready to pursue a more extensive search for the cause of treatment failure.

Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use; Bacterial; Community-Acquired Infections/drug therapy/mortality; Diagnostic Errors; Drug Resistance; Humans; Pneumonia/diagnosis/*drug therapy/mortality; Risk Factors; Treatment Failure

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883–897

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