Pneumococcal Urinary Antigen Screening in Hospitalized Patients with Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Although community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is common, our ability to determine its etiology is limited. This determination is extremely important in ensuring appropriate therapy. A pneumococcal urinary antigen (PUA) test has been available for some time and has been used in CAP, but its role is not clearly defined. To explore this issue, researchers conducted a prospective evaluation of such screening. The study was performed at a single medical center in Spain and included all consecutive adults (age, ≥16 years) who were hospitalized for CAP between February 2007 and January 2008.

Definite determination of CAP etiology was defined as isolation of a pathogen from a normally sterile sample (blood or pleural fluid); a positive result on a uri…