Community acquired pneumonia should be distinguished from healthcare-associated pneumonia as these diseases have different causative organism, prognosis, diagnostic and treatment guidelines.
Patient who has not been hospitalized or in an institutional setting for the past 2 weeks and have the following findings:
CXR findings of a new infiltrate. Although there is no gold standard for the diagnosis of community acquired pneumonia (CAP), a new infiltrate on chest radiograph in the setting of acute respiratory complaints (e.g., cough and dyspnea) is considered highly suggestive of CAP.
At least 2 of the four need to be present. The four symptoms are fever, cough, dyspnea, chest pain.
According to the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Thoracic Society healthcare-associated pneumonia includes any patient who meet the below criteria [1]
Hospitalized in an acute care hospital for 2 or more days within 90 days of the infection;
Resided in a nursing home or long-term care facility;
Received recent intravenous antibiotic therapy, chemotherapy, or wound care within the past 30 days of the current infection;
Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society consensus recommendation criteria for severe community acquired pneumonia in adults. [2] (DO NOT EDIT)[edit | edit source]