COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA GUIDELINES - AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON- A VIEW FROM EUROPE

Following an outline that details the pathogens causing community-acqu ired pneumonia (CAP) identified in studies from Europe, this article r eviews the guidelines for the management of CAP in four European count ries-France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The method behind t he development of each document is described, followed by a comparison of the scope of each document. All four documents provide guidelines for the management of two groups of patients-the severely ill and the nonseverely ill patient. A penicillin or macrolide feature for the non severely ill and the combination of a third-generation cephalosporin p lus a macrolide for the severely ill patient are described in all four guidelines. Despite their different origins and methods, these four g uidelines have more similarities than differences-the latter serving t o emphasize some of the areas that require further research in this im portant condition. An important area for research is the impact that t hese guidelines have on practice and especially on clinical outcomes.