Does empiric therapy for atypical pathogens improve outcomes for patients with CAP?

Does empiric therapy for atypical pathogens improve outcomes for patients with CAP?

File Thomas M Jr; Marrie Thomas J

Infectious disease clinics of North America

2013

2013-03

The present controversy regarding the need to cover atypical pathogens in the empiric therapy of community-acquired pneumonia is related to several issues, including the relevance of terminology, imprecise diagnostic methods, and perceived contradictory results of published evidence. Studies evaluating the time to clinical recovery and the use of earlier endpoints for evaluation suggest that appropriate therapy provides a benefit if an atypical pathogen is a pathogen. Because recent surveillance studies suggest these pathogens are common and until there is the availability of accurate, cost-effective, and easily interpreted laboratory tests to provide the etiologic diagnosis at the time of point of care, empiric therapy of atypical pathogens is supported.

Anti-Bacterial Agents/*therapeutic use; Antibiotic Prophylaxis; Antibiotics – Therapeutic Use; Clinical Trials; Clinical Trials as Topic; Community-Acquired Infections – Drug Therapy; Community-Acquired Infections – Microbiology; Community-Acquired Infections/drug therapy/microbiology; Humans; Pneumonia – Drug Therapy; Pneumonia – Microbiology; Pneumonia/*drug therapy/microbiology

Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

99–114

1

27