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Background: The rates and risk factors for developing recurrent pneumonia following hospitalization with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are poorly understood., Methods: We examined a population-based cohort of patients with CAP who survived hospital admission and who were free of pneumonia for at least 3 months. We collected clinical, functional, and medication-related information and pneumonia severity index (PSI). Using linked databases we followed patients for 5 years and captured any clinical episode of pneumonia 90 days or more post-discharge. We used Cox proportional hazards models (adjusted for age, sex, PSI, functional status, medications) to determine rates and independent correlates of recurrent pneumonia., Results: The final cohort included 2709 inpatients; 43% were 75 years or older, 34% were not fully independent, and 56% had severe pneumonia. Over 5 years of follow-up, 245 (9%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 8%-10%) patients developed recurrent pneumonia, and 156 (64%) of these episodes required hospitalization. Rate of recurrence was 3.0/100 person-years and median time to recurrence was 317 days (interquartile range, 177-569); 32 (13%) patients had 2 or more recurrences. In multivariable analyses only age >75 years (adjusted P = .047) and less than fully independent functional status (12% recurrence rate with impaired functional status vs 7% for fully independent; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.3-2.2; P < .001) were significantly associated with recurrent pneumonia., Conclusions: One of 11 patients who survived CAP hospitalization had recurrent pneumonia over 5 years and those with impaired functional status were at particularly high risk. Recurrent pneumonia is common and more attention to preventive strategies at discharge and closer follow-up over the long-term seem warranted., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND" Fluoroquinolone (FLQ) antibiotics are not uncommonly prescribed for community-acquired pneumonia that is later proven to be pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Such FLQ monotherapy may result in FLQ-resistant pulmonary TB., Methods: To assess outpatient FLQ use by patients with culture-proven pulmonary TB before diagnosis, TB registries in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, were linked with provincial and federal drug benefit plans. To assess FLQ resistance, a case-control study was performed., Results: Of 428 patients with pulmonary TB who were covered by a drug benefit plan, 74 (17.3%) had received > or = 1 FLQ prescription during the 6 months immediately before receipt of the diagnosis. Older patients (age, >64 years) were more likely than younger patients (age, 15-64 years) to be prescribed an FLQ (P < .05). Patients who were prescribed an FLQ received a total of 103 prescriptions. Most (54 [73.0%] of 74) patients who were prescribed an FLQ received a single prescription. Most (69 [67.0%] of 103) FLQ prescriptions were written within 90 days before the diagnosis of pulmonary TB. Patients who were prescribed an FLQ were not statistically significantly more likely than matched patients who were not prescribed an FLQ (control subjects) to be infected with FLQ-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Of 148 isolates of M. tuberculosis from patients and control subjects, 3 were FLQ resistant; all of these isolates were from patients who had received multiple FLQ prescriptions. Patients who had received multiple FLQ prescriptions were more likely than patients who had received a single FLQ prescription to be infected with FLQ-resistant M. tuberculosis (15.0% vs. 0.0%; odds ratio, 11.4; P = .04)., Conclusions: Outpatient FLQ use, ostensibly for community-acquired pneumonia, is not uncommon among patients with pulmonary TB, especially older patients. Single FLQ prescriptions were not associated with FLQ-resistant M. tuberculosis, whereas multiple FLQ prescriptions were associated with FLQ resistance.

In a case-control study, outcomes for 58 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) were compared with outcomes for 174 HIV-negative patients with CAP. No differences were found in the time to clinical stability, the length of hospitalization, and mortality. Clinical outcomes for hospitalized patients with CAP may not be influenced by HIV infection.

Chronic Q fever is uncommon, with the majority of cases manifesting as culture-negative endocarditis. In this report, we describe 3 patients who present with atypical manifestations of chronic Q fever. These were a 43-year-old man whose site of chronic Q fever was the central nervous system, a 53-year-old woman who underwent coronary angioplasty 6 days before the onset of symptoms of acute Q fever and within 4 months had serologic evidence consistent with chronic Q fever, and a 66-year-old man with fever of unknown origin, a pancreatic mass, and aorto-bifemoral grafts.

Previous studies have demonstrated that a substantial number of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) experienced CAP-related symptoms up to 3 months after the completion of antibiotic treatment. We evaluated the frequency of symptoms in a cohort of 535 patients with CAP who presented to a hospital emergency department and completed symptom questionnaires 2 and 6 weeks after the completion of a course of antibiotic therapy. Six weeks after cessation of antibiotic therapy, 64% of patients still reported > or = 1 CAP-related symptoms. Exploratory analyses were performed to identify potential predictors of complete symptom resolution. Logistic regression analysis identified younger age, absence of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and levofloxacin treatment as predictors of complete symptom resolution (all P < .05). Randomized controlled trials should be performed to evaluate the relative efficacy of different antibiotic therapies on the rate of resolution of symptoms.

We report a case of rapidly fatal Pseudomonas aeruginosa community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in a previously healthy 67-year-old woman. Eleven published case reports of P. aeruginosa CAP in previously healthy adults are reviewed. According to our review, the mean age of affected patients is 45.3 years. Five patients described in the literature were smokers with a mean smoking history of 40 pack-years. The clinical presentation is nonspecific, and although the pneumonia can be rapidly fatal, only 33% of the patients who were reported died. However, mortality may be independent of treatment within the first 36 hours of presentation. Exposure to aerosols of contaminated water is a risk factor for P. aeruginosa CAP in this population. Pseudomonas CAP should be considered in the differential diagnosis for anyone with a smoking history who presents with rapidly progressive pneumonia. We discuss treatment recommendations that are based on evidence in the currently available literature on the subject.

Pneumonia in the elderly is a common and serious problem with a clinical presentation that can differ from that in younger patients. Older patients with pneumonia complain of significantly fewer symptoms than do younger patients, and delirium commonly occurs. Indeed, delirium may be the only manifestation of pneumonia in this group of patients. Alcoholism, asthma, immunosuppression, and age >70 years are risk factors for community-acquired pneumonia in the elderly. Among nursing home residents, the following are risk factors for pneumonia: advanced age, male sex, difficulty in swallowing, inability to take oral medications, profound disability, bedridden state, and urinary incontinence. Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common cause of pneumonia among the elderly. Aspiration pneumonia is underdiagnosed in this group of patients, and tuberculosis always should be considered. In this population an etiologic diagnosis is rarely available when antimicrobial therapy must be instituted. Use of the guidelines for treatment of pneumonia issued by the Infectious Diseases Society of America, with modification for treatment in the nursing home setting, is recommended.

Coxiella burnetii pneumonia developed in all three members of one family 8 to 12 days following exposure to an infected parturient dog. The dog gave birth to four pups; three died shortly after birth, and the fourth died within 24 hours of birth.

Pneumonia is one manifestation of acute Q fever following infection with Coxiella burnetii. Fever, headache, and myalgia dominate the clinical picture of Q fever pneumonia. Cough is nonproductive and may be absent despite the presence of pneumonia. While in most instances pneumonia results in an illness of mild-to-moderate severity, on occasion it is rapidly progressive and results in respiratory failure. Infection occurs as a result of inhalation of contaminated aerosols. Infected cattle, sheep, and goats are the usual reservoirs for this zoonosis. In some areas, infected parturient cats serve as the reservoir, and in such instances, rounded opacities are seen on the chest radiograph. The diagnosis of C. burnetii pneumonia is usually confirmed by demonstration of a fourfold or greater rise in antibody titer. Treatment is usually with a tetracycline or rifampin for 7 to 10 days.

Between 19 March 1990 and 24 December 1992, six persons in Nova Scotia presented with a unique neurological illness. A prodrome of fever and headache was followed by neurogenic bladder, transverse myelitis, and encephalopathy in association with mononuclear pleocytosis of the CSF and nerve-conduction study findings consistent with polyradiculopathy. The spinal cords of three of the patients appeared abnormal on myelograms or magnetic resonance imaging studies. No microbial agent was isolated or demonstrated serologically. All of the patients were treated with antimicrobial agents and corticosteroids. Three recovered completely, but neurogenic bladder persisted in the remaining three. We suggest that this group of patients manifested an encephalomyeloradiculopathy that is likely a new clinical entity of infectious or parainfectious etiology.

The fatigue impact scale (FIS) was developed to improve our understanding of the effects of fatigue on quality of life. The FIS examines patients' perceptions of the functional limitations that fatigue has caused over the past month. FIS items reflect perceived impact on cognitive, physical, and psychosocial functioning. This study compared 145 patients referred for investigation of chronic fatigue (ChF) with 105 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 34 patients with mild hypertension (HT). Internal consistency for the FIS and its three subscales was > .87 for all analyses. Fatigue impact was highest for the ChF group although the MS group's reported fatigue also exceeded that of the HT group. Discriminant function analysis correctly classified 80.0% of the ChF group and 78.1% of the MS group when these groups were compared. This initial validation study indicates that the FIS has considerable merit as a measure of patient's attribution of functional limitations to symptoms of fatigue.

Thrombotic microangiopathy, a disease within the clinical spectrum of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and hemolytic-uremic syndrome, was recognized in a previously healthy 50-year-old woman who presented with pneumococcal bacteremia complicated by thrombocytopenia, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, renal failure, and disorientation. After treatment with plasma exchange and antibiotics, the patient's clinical condition improved. Discontinuation of plasma exchange resulted in a relapse of thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia that responded to reinitiation of this intervention. The production of the enzyme neuraminidase by Streptococcus pneumoniae is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of the thrombotic process. Although pneumococcal infection has been associated with hemolytic-uremic syndrome in children, review of the literature on adults revealed only one such case (in a patient who had undergone splenectomy in the remote past). This report therefore documents an unusual complication of pneumococcal bacteremia in an immunocompetent adult.