New guidelines give specifics for pneumonia care

An update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America offers more detailed drug treatment recommendations for community-acquired pneumonia, while keeping an eye out for antibiotic resistance.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. Dec. 22/29, 2003.

Washington -- As the nation braces for an especially virulent flu season, revised guidelines to aid physicians in the management of a well-known and dangerous flu complication -- community-acquired pneumonia -- were released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

The IDSA guidelines are updated every few years to, in part, try to stay ahead of the rapidly evolving resistance developed by many infectious agents to even the most advanced and effective antibiotics.

In this go-round, the guidelines address new issues such as the emergence of the SARS virus and the advent of bioterrorism, in which physicians must be watchful for evidence of possible use of deadly weaponized agents that can cause respiratory distress.

Community-acquired pneumonia is a common and potentially lethal infection that causes the deaths of more than 45,000 Americans each year.

The IDSA notes that vaccinations against both the flu and pneumococcus infection are available as prevention mainstays, though not everyone who can benefit from them takes advantage of these measures.

The new guidelines will also serve as a template for a joint document now under development by IDSA and the American Thoracic Society, which has published its own set in past years, said lead IDSA guideline author Lionel A. Mandell, MD, chief of the infectious diseases division at McMaster University School of Medicine in Hamilton, Ontario.

The joint recommendations are expected to be released in about a year.