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More than two decades ago, published data suggested a link between nosocomial pneumonia and the use of gastric acid-suppressive agents to prevent stress gastritis. Might the risk for community-acquired pneumonia also be elevated in patients taking such medications? To answer this question, investigators sifted through clinical information retrieved from an electronic medical-record system used by approximately 150 general practitioners in the Netherlands (total, 364,683 patients).
From 1995 through 2002, 19,459 patients received a first prescription for a proton-pump inhibitor (PPI), an H2-receptor antagonist (H2RA), or both; 5551 patients developed first occurrences of pneumonia. The unadjusted relative risks for pneumonia in patients recei…