Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Strategies For Triage and Treatment
Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Strategies For Triage and Treatment
Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Strategies For Triage and Treatment
CME MOC
Anita R. Modi, MD Christopher S. Kovacs, MD
Department of Infectious Disease, Department of Infectious Disease, Cleveland Clinic;
Cleveland Clinic Assistant Professor, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College
of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University,
Cleveland, OH
Community-acquired pneumonia:
Strategies for triage and treatment
ABSTRACT hile physicians have treated pneu-
Community-acquired pneumonia significantly contributes
W monia for centuries, each stage of the
clinical decision-making process still poses
to patient morbidity and healthcare costs. As our under- challenges, from determining the most appro-
standing of this common infection grows, collaborative priate setting of care for a patient with suspect-
efforts among researchers and clinical societies provide ed pneumonia to planning follow-up after an-
new literature and updated guidelines informing its tibiotic completion. Over the years, physicians
management. This review discusses diagnostic methods, have witnessed the advent of new medical and
empiric treatment, and infection prevention strategies for respiratory therapies as well as the develop-
patients with suspected community-acquired pneumonia. ment of antibiotic resistance in the manage-
ment of this common infection.
KEY POINTS Inpatients with pneumonia fall into 2 cat-
egories: those with community-acquired pneu-
Systematically stratifying patients with suspected monia (CAP) who are admitted, and those
community-acquired pneumonia based on mortality risk who develop either hospital-acquired or venti-
can aid in designating the safest level of care for each lator-associated pneumonia while already hos-
patient. pitalized. Each patient population faces unique
organism exposures, and thus, recommended
diagnostic tests, empiric treatment regimens,
Empiric treatment should be informed by the local anti- and goals for infection prevention vary.
biogram (ie, local patterns of antibiotic resistance) with This article reviews guidelines by the In-
multidrug-resistant organism coverage added based on fectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)
individual patient and institutional risk factors. and the American Thoracic Society (ATS)1
and interprets recent studies to address ques-
Prompt de-escalation to targeted antimicrobial therapy, tions that arise specifically in the inpatient
guided by diagnostic testing, can reduce antibiotic resis- management of CAP.
tance and antibiotic-related adverse drug reactions.
■ COMMON AND COSTLY
Appropriate clinical and radiographic follow-up after an- CAP is a significant health concern, with one
tibiotic course completion to assess for treatment failure study reporting 915,500 episodes in adults at
is a subject of ongoing debate. least 65 years of age in the United States every
year, and medical costs associated with CAP
exceeding $10 billion in 2011.2,3
The National Center for Health Statis-
tics reported 1.7 million visits to emergency
departments in the United States in 2017 in
which pneumonia was the primary discharge
diagnosis, and listed pneumonia as the cause
doi:10.3949/ccjm.87a.19067 of death for 49,157 people in 2017.4
CLEVELAND CLINIC JOURNAL OF MEDICINE VOLUME 87 • NUMBER 3 MARCH 2020 145
Downloaded from www.ccjm.org on July 20, 2021. For personal use only. All other uses require permission.
COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA
Downloaded from www.ccjm.org on July 20, 2021. For personal use only. All other uses require permission.
MODI AND KOVACS
Downloaded from www.ccjm.org on July 20, 2021. For personal use only. All other uses require permission.
COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA
TABLE 3 TABLE 4
Severe pneumonia: Indications for blood culture
Infectious Diseases Society of America testing in suspected
and American Thoracic Society criteria community-acquired pneumonia
Major criteria Intensive care unit admission
Blood urea nitrogen > 7 mmol/L Positive pneumococcal urine antigen test
Hypothermia
Hypotension requiring aggressive fluids tibiotic regimens.1 Pretreatment Gram stain
and culture in patients able to adequately
PaO2 / FiO2 < 250 expectorate a good-quality specimen or endo-
Multilobar infiltrates tracheal aspirate in intubated patients should
be collected. Patients fulfilling criteria for se-
Having at least 1 major criterion or at least 3 minor criteria suggests vere pneumonia as defined by the IDSA/ATS
the need for intensive care. guidelines merit blood and sputum cultures as
well as urinary antigen tests for L pneumophila
From Mandell LA, Wunderink RG, Anzueto A, et al; Infectious Diseases Society of America; American
Thoracic Society. Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society consensus guide-
and S pneumoniae (Table 4).1
lines on the management of community-acquired pneumonia in adults. Clin Infect Dis 2007; 44(suppl Overall, active surveillance of more than
2):S27–S72, by permission of Oxford University Press.
2,200 patients with CAP requiring hospital-
ization noted that 38% of blood and sputum
cultures, nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal
from nonbacterial pneumonias.10 A Swedish swabs, and urinary antigens yielded a causative
retrospective chart review of 103 outpatients organism.12 Viral organisms accounted for 25%
with suspected CAP noted that just 88% of of these cases and bacterial organisms account-
patients with high clinical concern for CAP ed for 14%; 5% of patients with viral pneumo-
demonstrated radiographic evidence of infec- nias were coinfected with either another respi-
tion.11 ratory virus or a bacterial organism.
Microbiology Procalcitonin testing
A thorough social history should be gathered Procalcitonin testing can help differentiate vi-
for every patient with suspected CAP to screen ral from bacterial pathogens in patients admit-
for potential occupational, travel, or endemic ted for CAP, preventing the use of unnecessary
exposures. This will guide microbiologic testing antibiotics and allowing prompt de-escalation
and empiric antibiotic treatment.1 For example, of empiric therapy more effectively than clini-
patients presenting during flu season or with cal judgment alone.13 While any infectious
known exposures to poultry in areas of prior in- pneumonia can precipitate elevations of this
fluenza outbreaks should be screened for influ- serum biomarker, typical bacteria tend to re-
enza A and B with a nasopharyngeal swab. sult in higher procalcitonin levels than atypi-
Isolating a specific organism in outpatients cal bacteria or viruses.14 Cytokines, associated
with CAP may not be necessary but is recom- with bacterial infections, enhance procalcito-
mended to guide de-escalation of empiric an- nin release, while interferons, associated with
148 CLEVELAND CLINIC JOURNAL OF MEDICINE VOLUME 87 • NUMBER 3 MARCH 2020
Downloaded from www.ccjm.org on July 20, 2021. For personal use only. All other uses require permission.
MODI AND KOVACS
■ MANAGEMENT
OF COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA
Antibiotic therapy
The selection of antibiotics before a causative
pathogen is identified should be informed by
the patient’s risk factors and degree of illness
(Table 5, Table 6).1
Patients on a medical floor should be
Figure 1. Focal lobar pneumonia.
started on either a respiratory fluoroquino-
lone or a combination of a beta-lactam plus
a macrolide; intensive care patients should
receive a beta-lactam plus either a macro-
lide or a respiratory fluoroquinolone. Doxy-
cycline can be used as an alternative to the
macrolide or respiratory fluoroquinolone to
cover atypical organisms such as Chlamydia
pneumoniae, Legionella pneumophila, and My-
coplasma pneumoniae in patients with pro-
longed QTc. In penicillin-allergic patients,
aztreonam should be used in combination
with an aminoglycoside and a respiratory
fluoroquinolone.
Patients who may have been exposed to in-
fluenza or who have a history of injection drug
use or structural lung disease or who have a
lung abscess, cavitary infiltrates, or endobron-
chial obstruction also merit coverage against
community-acquired methicillin-resistant S
aureus (MRSA) with vancomycin or linezolid.
Those with confirmed or suspected influenza Fgure 2. Diffuse interstitial pneumonia.
A presenting within 48 hours of symptom
CLEVELAND CLINIC JOURNAL OF MEDICINE VOLUME 87 • NUMBER 3 MARCH 2020 149
Downloaded from www.ccjm.org on July 20, 2021. For personal use only. All other uses require permission.
COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA
TABLE 5 TABLE 6
judgment Staphylococcus aureus reliable negative predictive value and can also
when triaging Legionella species be used to de-escalate empiric antimicrobial
therapy.16
patients with Gram-negative bacilli Should microbiologic evaluation fail to
community- H influenzae identify a causative organism, the patient’s
acquired individual risk factors as listed above must be
From Mandell LA, Wunderink RG, Anzueto A, et al; Infectious Diseases
Society of America; American Thoracic Society. Infectious Diseases Soci- considered in de-escalating therapy to a final
pneumonia ety of America/American Thoracic Society consensus guidelines on the
regimen with coverage for MRSA, Pseudomo-
management of community-acquired pneumonia in adults. Clin Infect
Dis 2007; 44(suppl 2):S27–S72, by permission of Oxford University Press. nas aeruginosa, or atypical pathogens as indi-
cated. Pseudomonal pneumonia has been asso-
ciated with higher risk of mortality and relapse
onset or with severe illness should be treated than pneumonia caused by other pathogens.
with oseltamivir.1
Corticosteroids as adjunctive therapy
If an organism is identified by culture,
The use of adjunctive corticosteroids for CAP
polymerase chain reaction, or serology, the management has been widely contested. The
empiric antibiotic regimen should be tailored IDSA/ATS guidelines recommend against cor-
to this organism. MRSA nares screening can ticosteroid use for adjunctive treatment of CAP
be reliably used to guide empiric and targeted except in patients with refractory septic shock.1
antimicrobial regimens; patients started on
vancomycin or linezolid based on the above- Later management
stated risk factors can be safely de-escalated Patients who are hemodynamically stable,
on the basis of a negative nasal swab.15 The can ingest medications safely, and have a nor-
pneumococcal urinary antigen has a similarly mal gastrointestinal tract can be discharged
150 CLEVELAND CLINIC JOURNAL OF MEDICINE VOLUME 87 • NUMBER 3 MARCH 2020
Downloaded from www.ccjm.org on July 20, 2021. For personal use only. All other uses require permission.
MODI AND KOVACS
on oral therapy without waiting to observe atypical pathogens which may not be covered
the clinical response. Antibiotics should be by the ongoing antibiotic regimen. Pulmonol-
given for at least 5 days, though longer dura- ogy consultation is also indicated for patients
tions may be needed in immunocompromised with complications of pneumonia such as em-
patients or in those with pulmonary or extra- pyema that require procedural intervention.
pulmonary complications.1
An infectious disease consultation may be ■ TAKE-HOME POINTS
beneficial if long-term intravenous antibiotic
therapy is anticipated or if the patient progres- • CAP continues to contribute to patient
sively deteriorates on guideline-based antimi- morbidity and mortality as well as health-
crobial therapy. care costs.
Pulmonary consultation may be needed • Professional societies have released col-
for bronchoscopy to obtain deep respiratory laborative guidelines to streamline prac-
samples, especially if the patient is clinically tice patterns and provide evidence-based
worsening and the causative pathogen re- protocols for the diagnosis, treatment, and
mains unidentified. We acknowledge that the prevention of this common infection.
yield of bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar • Further research is needed to delineate ap-
lavage samples is reduced with longer dura- propriate strategies to de-escalate antibiot-
tions of antibiotic therapy, yet believe that in ics in the absence of a causative organism,
the context of clinical worsening in spite of define the dose and duration of adjunctive
antibiotics, bronchoalveolar lavage may help steroid use, and clarify patient follow-up
successfully identify multidrug-resistant or after discharge from the hospital. ■
Downloaded from www.ccjm.org on July 20, 2021. For personal use only. All other uses require permission.