Community-acquired pneumonia: Changing paradigms about mortality

Abstract

of antibiotics in the 1950’s.[26,27] In particular, the mortality rates of hospitalized CAP patients in Europe are 5-15% rising to 40% in intensive care unit admitted patients.[2] Moreover, in hospitalized CAP patients mortality increases dramatically in the presence of determined risk factors (comorbidities, immunosuppression, increasing age) up to 20-40%.[28,29] Indeed, it is known that 25-50% of all deaths from pneumonia are reported within the first 30 days after diagnosis with a large proportion of deaths being related to co-morbidities rather than directed due to pneumonia. After 30-day, mortality is still increased in patients with CAP with the majority of deaths being the result of co-morbidities and particularly cardiovascular co-morbidities.[27,30-32]