

Widespread reviews have shown that a single cause of pneumonia has often been identified in less than 10% of patients presenting to the emergency department. While identifying an etiologic agent for pneumonia is essential for effective treatment as well as epidemiological record keeping, this is seldom seen in clinical practice.

These categories have helped establish the common organisms responsible for each type of pneumonia and helped to formulate treatment guidelines for the efficient management in both in-patient and out-patient setting.ĭepending on the pattern of involvement, pneumonia has historically also been studied as: Īny pneumonia acquired 48 hours after endotracheal intubation is considered as VAP. Now all pneumonia acquired in the setting of assisted-living facilities, rehabilitation facilities, and other healthcare facilities have been included under community-acquired pneumonia, and a hospital setting is necessary for classifying pneumonia as HAP. This classification helps clear the confusion surrounding the terms healthcare-associated and hospital-acquired pneumonia. Īny pneumonia acquired 48 hours after being admitted in an inpatient setting such as a hospital and not incubating at the time of admission is considered as HAP. This article reviews pneumonia based on the classification followed by the American Thoracic Society.Īny pneumonia acquired outside of a hospital in a community setting. There have been many attempts to classify pneumonia based on the etiology, clinical setting in which the patent acquired the infection, and the pattern of involvement of lung parenchyma, among other classifications. Rather than looking at it as a single disease, health care professionals must remember that pneumonia is an umbrella term for a group of syndromes caused by a variety of organisms resulting in varied manifestations and sequelae. Pneumonia has been defined as an infection of the lung parenchyma.
