New Guidelines Call for Fewer Antibiotics for Community-Acquired Pneumonia

New guidelines released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the American Thoracic Society state that hospital-acquired and ventilator-acquired pneumonia should be treated with a course of antibiotics that is 7 days or fewer.

Hospitals should also develop antibiograms to determine the strains causing the infections and the correct antibiotics to treat it should be developed, according to a statement from the IDSA.

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“Once clinicians are updated regularly on what bugs are causing VAP and HAP in their hospitals as well as their sensitivities to specific antibiotics, they can choose the most effective treatment,” Dr. Andre Kalil, lead guidelines author and professor of medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said in a statement.

The threat hospital-acquired and ventilator-acquired pneumonia pose is significant. They account for approximately 20% to 25% of hospital-acquired infections, the IDSA noted, adding that they result in deaths in 10% to 15% of cases.

The new guidelines were published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

--Stephanie Vaccaro

Reference:

Infectious Diseases Society of America. New guidelines OK less antibiotics for hospital-acquired, ventilator-associated pneumonia [press release]. www.eurekalert.org. July 14, 2016.