Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Dec;31(4):689-713.
doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2017.07.015. Epub 2017 Sep 13.

Bacterial Pneumonia in Older Adults

Oryan Henig  1 , Keith S Kaye  2
Affiliations
Review

Bacterial Pneumonia in Older Adults

Oryan Henig et al. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

The incidence of pneumonia increases with age, and is particularly high in patients who reside in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). Mortality rates for pneumonia in older adults are high and have not decreased in the last decade. Atypical symptoms and exacerbation of underlying illnesses should trigger clinical suspicion of pneumonia. Risk factors for multidrug-resistant organisms are more common in older adults, particularly among LTCF residents, and should be considered when making empiric treatment decisions. Monitoring of clinical stability and underlying comorbid conditions, potential drug-drug interactions, and drug-related adverse events are important factors in managing elderly patients with pneumonia.

Keywords: Empiric treatment; Long-term care facility; Multidrug-resistant organisms; Older adults; Pneumonia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and subsets of CAP, including CAP among long-term care facility residents (LTCF), and CAP owing to multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Heron M. Deaths: leading causes for 2014. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2016;65(5):1–96. - PubMed
    1. Jackson M.L., Neuzil K.M., Thompson W.W. The burden of community-acquired pneumonia in seniors: results of a population-based study. Clin Infect Dis. 2004;39(11):1642–1650. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ochoa-Gondar O., Vila-Corcoles A., de Diego C. The burden of community-acquired pneumonia in the elderly: the Spanish EVAN-65 study. BMC Public Health. 2008;8:222. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Marrie T.J., File T.M., Jr. Bacterial pneumonia in older adults. Clin Geriatr Med. 2016;32(3):459–477. - PubMed
    1. Fry A.M., Shay D.K., Holman R.C. Trends in hospitalizations for pneumonia among persons aged 65 years or older in the United States, 1988-2002. JAMA. 2005;294(21):2712–2719. - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances