Description
Patients with community-acquired pneumonia often present with
cough, fever, chills, fatigue, dyspnea, rigors, and pleuritic chest pain.
When a patient presents with suspected community-acquired pneumonia,
the physician should first assess the need for hospitalization
using a mortality prediction tool, such as the Pneumonia Severity
Index, combined with clinical judgment. Consensus guidelines from
several organizations recommend empiric therapy with macrolides,
fluoroquinolones, or doxycycline. Patients who are hospitalized should
be switched from parenteral antibiotics to oral antibiotics after their
symptoms improve, they are afebrile, and they are able to tolerate oral
medications. Clinical pathways are important tools to improve care
and maximize cost-effectiveness in hospitalized patients.