COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA - CONSIDERAT IONS ON AMBULATORY MANAGEMENT

Community-acquired pneumonia is a frequent disease in outpatients; its incidence is highest among persons at the extremes of age. Hospitaliz ation is rarely required. Since most clinical studies are performed wi th hospitalized patients, available data are not always representative of the general population. For instance, the importance of some organ isms, such as Mycoplasma pneumoniae, is underestimated, and the severi ty of the prognosis is overestimated in the literature. Identification of the causative organism is usually not cost-effective in outpatient s. Therefore, therapy is most often empirical. In Switzerland, the maj ority of patients can be successfully treated with macrolides. Antibio tics may also be chosen according to the most probable organisms in a given patient, based on his age and underlying diseases; this last str ategy may be more logical from the point of view of public health.