Evaluation and Management of Community and Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia for the Primary Care Providers

The incidence and prevalence of both community and hospital acquired pneumonia has remained relatively constant over the last several years. This paper reviews the current treatment guidelines as well as highlight new antibiotics that have recently become available for use as well. We evaluated guidelines provided by the infectious diseases society of America (IDSA) for the management of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), published in 2007, and hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) published in 2005. We also reviewed literature published from January 2005 to December 2015 using PubMed to evaluate how the treatment of these types of pneumonia have evolved. Through our literature review, it was found that despite the advances made in the diagnosis and management of both CAP and HAP, it remains a significant challenge to diagnose and often treat. Two new IV antibiotics (tigecycline and ceftaroline) introduced for the management of CAP and telavancin was approved for HAP. Moreover, treatment of these two types of pneumonia often involves being creative with antimicrobial therapy due to the increasing multi-drug resistance. CAP/HAP remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Bacterial resistance is increasing and adds to the difficulty in treating these patients. Newer drugs are available but should be used judiciously and in the right setting.