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Cases of pneumonia have traditionally been classified as community acquired or hospital acquired, with ventilator-associated illness a subgroup of the latter. More recently, “nursing home–associated pneumonia” and other categories with special emphasis on older patients have emerged. But how does pneumonia differ by age? An analysis of data from the German Competence Network for Community Acquired Pneumonia Study Group provides some answers to this question.
Data were analyzed for 7803 patients with radiographically documented pneumonia (56% male, 44% female). Sixty-nine percent of the patients were hospitalized, 65% had at least one comorbidity, and 8% were nursing home residents. Fifty-two percent of the patients were aged <65 (6%, 18–29; …