Incidence of community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization is highest in elderly
WEDNESDAY, July 15, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The annual incidence of community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization is 24.8 cases per 10,000 adults, according to a study published online July 14 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Seema Jain, M.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues conducted active population-based surveillance for community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization among adults in five hospitals in Chicago and Nashville.
The researchers found that the median age of patients was 57 years among 2,320 adults with radiographic evidence of pneumonia (93 percent); 21 percent of patients required intensive care and 2 percent died. Among 2,259 patients with radiographic evidence of pneumonia and specimens for both bacterial and viral testing, the investigators detected a pathogen in 38 percent, with one or more viruses, bacteria, bacterial and viral pathogens, and a fungal or mycobacterial pathogen in 23, 11, 3, and 1 percent, respectively. Human rhinovirus, influenza virus, and Streptococcus pneumoniae were the most common pathogens (in 9, 6, and 5 percent of patients, respectively). Per 10,000 adults, the annual incidence of pneumonia was 24.8 cases, with the highest rates among adults aged 65 to 79 years and 80 years or older (63.0 and 164.3 cases per 10,000 adults, respectively). The incidence increased with age for each pathogen.
“The burden of community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization among adults is substantial and is markedly higher among the oldest adults,” the authors write.
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