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Onset of healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) occurs outside of the hospital, but the patients have had healthcare exposures that increase the risk for infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria (JW Infect Dis Jul 18 2007). Treatment guidelines suggest that HCAP patients require broader-spectrum antibiotic therapy than do those with community-acquired pneumonia.
In an industry-funded, retrospective cohort study, investigators sought to determine whether criteria for HCAP predict infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. All patients presenting to a single emergency department from 2003 through 2005 with at least two signs or symptoms of pneumonia, a new infiltrate on chest radiograph, and microbiological evidence of infection were in…