scholarly journals Systemic Steroid Treatment for Severe Expanding Pneumococcal Pneumonia

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Eran Lavi ◽  
David Shoseyov ◽  
Natalia Simanovsky ◽  
Rebecca Brooks

The treatment of bacterial community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is based on appropriate antibiotic therapy and supportive care such as intravenous fluids and supplemental oxygen. There is no available data regarding the use of steroids in CAP in children. We present an unusual case of a child with severe respiratory distress, on the brink of mechanical ventilation, due to a rapidly expanding pneumococcal pneumonia. The administration of systemic steroids resulted in a dramatic response with rapid improvement of clinical and radiological abnormalities followed by improvement of laboratory abnormalities. This case report should raise the awareness of the potential benefits of steroids in the treatment of severe pneumonia in children. Prospective randomized trials are needed to confirm the efficacy of steroids in this setting and to determine which patients would benefit most from this.

2019 ◽  
Vol 317 (5) ◽  
pp. L717-L736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey E. Gotts ◽  
Olivier Bernard ◽  
Lauren Chun ◽  
Roxanne H. Croze ◽  
James T. Ross ◽  
...  

Pneumonia is responsible for more deaths in the United States than any other infectious disease. Severe pneumonia is a common cause of acute respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Despite the introduction of effective antibiotics and intensive supportive care in the 20th century, death rates from community-acquired pneumonia among patients in the intensive care unit remain as high as 35%. Beyond antimicrobial treatment, no targeted molecular therapies have yet proven effective, highlighting the need for additional research. Despite some limitations, small animal models of pneumonia and the mechanistic insights they produce are likely to continue to play an important role in generating new therapeutic targets. Here we describe the development of an innovative mouse model of pneumococcal pneumonia developed for enhanced clinical relevance. We first reviewed the literature of small animal models of bacterial pneumonia that incorporated antibiotics. We then did a series of experiments in mice in which we systematically varied the pneumococcal inoculum and the timing of antibiotics while measuring systemic and lung-specific end points, producing a range of models that mirrors the spectrum of pneumococcal lung disease in patients, from mild self-resolving infection to severe pneumonia refractory to antibiotics. A delay in antibiotic treatment resulted in ongoing inflammation and renal and hepatic dysfunction despite effective bacterial killing. The addition of fluid resuscitation to the model improved renal function but worsened the severity of lung injury based on direct measurements of pulmonary edema and lung compliance, analogous to patients with pneumonia and sepsis who develop ARDS following fluid administration.


2020 ◽  
Vol 132 (4) ◽  
pp. 795-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holger Müller-Redetzky ◽  
Ute Kellermann ◽  
Sandra-Maria Wienhold ◽  
Birgitt Gutbier ◽  
Jasmin Lienau ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Community-acquired pneumonia and associated sepsis cause high mortality despite antibiotic treatment. Uncontrolled inflammatory host responses contribute to the unfavorable outcome by driving lung and extrapulmonary organ failure. The complement fragment C5a holds significant proinflammatory functions and is associated with tissue damage in various inflammatory conditions. The authors hypothesized that C5a concentrations are increased in pneumonia and C5a neutralization promotes barrier stabilization in the lung and is protective in pneumococcal pulmonary sepsis. Methods The authors investigated regulation of C5a in pneumonia in a prospective patient cohort and in experimental pneumonia. Two complementary models of murine pneumococcal pneumonia were applied. Female mice were treated with NOX-D19, a C5a-neutralizing l-RNA-aptamer. Lung, liver, and kidney injury and the inflammatory response were assessed by measuring pulmonary permeability (primary outcome), pulmonary and blood leukocytes, cytokine concentrations in lung and blood, and bacterial load in lung, spleen, and blood, and performing histologic analyses of tissue damage, apoptosis, and fibrin deposition (n = 5 to 13). Results In hospitalized patients with pneumonia (n = 395), higher serum C5a concentrations were observed compared to healthy subjects (n = 24; 6.3 nmol/l [3.9 to 10.0] vs. 4.5 nmol/l [3.8 to 6.6], median [25 to 75% interquartile range]; difference: 1.4 [95% CI, 0.1 to 2.9]; P = 0.029). Neutralization of C5a in mice resulted in lower pulmonary permeability in pneumococcal pneumonia (1.38 ± 0.89 vs. 3.29 ± 2.34, mean ± SD; difference: 1.90 [95% CI, 0.15 to 3.66]; P = 0.035; n = 10 or 11) or combined severe pneumonia and mechanical ventilation (2.56 ± 1.17 vs. 7.31 ± 5.22; difference: 4.76 [95% CI, 1.22 to 8.30]; P = 0.011; n = 9 or 10). Further, C5a neutralization led to lower blood granulocyte colony-stimulating factor concentrations and protected against sepsis-associated liver injury. Conclusions Systemic C5a is elevated in pneumonia patients. Neutralizing C5a protected against lung and liver injury in pneumococcal pneumonia in mice. Early neutralization of C5a might be a promising adjunctive treatment strategy to improve outcome in community-acquired pneumonia. Editor’s Perspective What We Already Know about This Topic What This Article Tells Us That Is New


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Shoar ◽  
Fernando H Centeno ◽  
Daniel M Musher

Abstract Background Long regarded as the second most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), Haemophilus influenzae has recently been identified with almost equal frequency as pneumococcus in patients hospitalized for CAP. The literature lacks a detailed description of the presentation, clinical features, laboratory and radiologic findings, and outcomes in Haemophilus pneumonia. Methods During 2 prospective studies of patients hospitalized for CAP, we identified 33 patients with Haemophilus pneumonia. In order to provide context, we compared clinical findings in these patients with findings in 36 patients with pneumococcal pneumonia identified during the same period. We included and analyzed separately data from patients with viral coinfection. Patients with coinfection by other bacteria were excluded. Results Haemophilus pneumonia occurred in older adults who had underlying chronic lung disease, cardiac conditions, and alcohol use disorder, the same population at risk for pneumococcal pneumonia. However, in contrast to pneumococcal pneumonia, patients with Haemophilus pneumonia had less severe infection as shown by absence of septic shock on admission, less confusion, fewer cases of leukopenia or extreme leukocytosis, and no deaths at 30 days. Viral coinfection greatly increased the severity of Haemophilus, but not pneumococcal pneumonia. Conclusions We present the first thorough description of Haemophilus pneumonia, show that it is less severe than pneumococcal pneumonia, and document that viral coinfection greatly increases its severity. These distinctions are lost when the label CAP is liberally applied to all patients who come to the hospital from the community for pneumonia.


Author(s):  
Е.Е. Краснова ◽  
В.В. Чемоданов ◽  
Е.Г. Кузнецова

Пневмония – острое инфекционно-воспалительное заболевание легких преимущественно бактериальной этиологии, характеризующееся выраженной в разной степени дыхательной недостаточностью, токсическими и респираторными нарушениями, локальными физикальными симптомами, а также инфильтративными изменениями на рентгенограмме. Заболеваемость внебольничными пневмониями повышается в октябре-декабре, достигая максимума в январе-апреле, коррелируя с сезонным повышением уровня острых респираторных вирусных инфекций. Схожесть симптомов дебюта пневмонии с проявлениями острых респираторных вирусных инфекций может привести к несвоевременной ее диагностике и, как следствие, к отсроченному началу лечения. Поэтому в период сезонной заболеваемости респираторными инфекциями должна повышаться настороженность врачей-педиатров в отношении внебольничной пневмонии. Антибактериальная терапия оказывает решающее влияние на прогноз пневмонии, поэтому при достоверном диагнозе или у больного в тяжелом состоянии с вероятным диагнозом ее следует начать незамедлительно. Выбор антибиотика в каждом случае внебольничной пневмонии проводят индивидуально с учетом природной активности препаратов в отношении предполагаемого возбудителя и их возможной приобретенной резистентности, тяжести и течения заболевания, наличия у пациента противопоказаний к использованию тех или иных антибиотиков. В статье приводятся сведения о диагностических критериях внебольничных пневмоний. Рассмотрены вопросы антибактериального лечения типичной нетяжелой пневмонии у детей разных возрастных групп амоксициллином с клавулановой кислотой и показана его эффективность. Результаты проведенного исследования позволяют заключить, что пероральное использование одного курса защищенного аминопенициллина эффективно при лечении типичной внебольничной нетяжелой пневмонии у детей разного возраста, о чем свидетельствует ликвидация основных клинических проявлений болезни в короткие сроки. Pneumonia is an acute infectious and inflammatory lung disease of predominantly bacterial etiology, characterized by respiratory failure, toxic and respiratory disorders, local physical symptoms, and infiltrative changes on the roentgenogram. The incidence of community-acquired pneumonia increases in October-December, reaching a maximum in January-April, correlating with the seasonal increase in the level of acute respiratory viral infections. The similarity of the symptoms of the onset of pneumonia with the manifestations of acute respiratory viral infections can lead to its untimely diagnosis and, as a consequence, to a delayed start of treatment. Therefore, during the period of seasonal morbidity with respiratory infections, the alertness of pediatricians in relation to community-acquired pneumonia should increase. Antibiotic therapy has a decisive influence on the prognosis of pneumonia, therefore, with a reliable diagnosis or in a patient in serious condition with a probable diagnosis, it should be started immediately. The choice of antibiotic in each case of community-acquired pneumonia is carried out individually, taking into account the natural activity of the drugs in relation to the alleged pathogen and their possible acquired resistance, the severity and course of the disease, the patient's contraindications to the use of certain antibiotics. The article provides information on the diagnostic criteria for community-acquired pneumonia. The issues of antibacterial treatment of typical non-severe pneumonia in children of different age groups with amoxicillin with clavulanic acid are considered and its effectiveness is shown. The results of the study allow us to conclude that the oral use of one course of protected aminopenicillin is effective in the treatment of typical community-acquired non-severe pneumonia in children of different ages, as evidenced by the elimination of the main clinical manifestations of the disease in a short time.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
I. N. Gayvoronskiy ◽  
Yu. Sh Khalimov ◽  
S. V. Gayduk ◽  
T. V. Lyanginen ◽  
A. S. Partsernyak ◽  
...  

Doctors of the clinic of military field therapy of the Military Medical Academy named after S.M. Kirov, the experience of successful treatment of community-acquired pneumonia of a severe course with the development of complications against the background of parenteral poisoning with a mixture of narcotic substances in a young patient was obtained. An important feature in the treatment tactics of this patient was the impossibility of antidote therapy with naloxone (a competitive opioid receptor antagonist) due to the presence of signs of respiratory failure, hypoxic and tissue hypoxia. As a result of the systemic treatment in the young patient, it was possible to arrest a significant septic process and multiple organ disorders of vital functions that arose due to severe endotoxic damage. An important factor in ensuring the survival of patients with severe pneumonia against a background of immune depression due to the use of toxic substances is the rational selection of an antibacterial drug or combinations of antibiotic therapy, constant monitoring of vital functions with prompt correction of emerging disorders, as well as the need to use modern high-tech treatment methods. This example clearly shows the need for urgent, systematic and complex intensive care in a number of manipulations performed in people with complications of community-acquired pneumonia, suffering from drug addiction. In addition, it is important to minimize the time from the detection of a poisoned person to the start of emergency measures, as well as their further evacuation to the stage of providing qualified and specialized medical care. Thus, modern medicine continues to face an extremely urgent problem of drug use by the population. A significant number of people with drug dependence syndrome do not seek medical help for various reasons, continuing to use illegal drugs.


Vaccine ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 412-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Gil-Prieto ◽  
Laura García-García ◽  
Alejandro Álvaro-Meca ◽  
Cristina Méndez ◽  
Ana García ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Caramori ◽  
D. Artioli ◽  
G. Ferrara ◽  
R. Cazzuffi ◽  
C. Pasquini ◽  
...  

We present here the case of a 66 year old man with a severe bilateral community acquired pneumonia secondary to dissemination after an intravesical instillation of bacilllus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). Diagnosis was based on positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in bronchoalveolar lavage and on the finding on transbronchial biopsy of non necrotising granulomas histopathologically similar to the granulomas found in bladder biopsies. These findings were confirmed using a validated real time PCR assay demonstrating the presence of the BCG genome in transbronchial and bladder biopsies.


Pneumologia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-14
Author(s):  
Gina Amanda ◽  
Dianiati Kusumo Sutoyo ◽  
Erlina Burhan

Abstract Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common aetiology of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). It has many virulence factors, the most important being a polysaccharide capsule (Cps). There are 97 different serotypes of pneumococcal based on Cps which include both colonization and invasive serotypes. Pneumococcal pneumonia may exist as a result of either aspiration of bacteria in the nasopharynx or inhalation of droplet nuclei which contains bacteria until they reach the lower respiratory tract. This condition will activate both innate and adaptive immune system. The diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia is established in a patient who has the signs and symptoms of pneumonia, accompanied by the detection of S. pneumoniae in microbiology examination. Pneumococcus may also penetrate into a normally sterile site such as bloodstream, meninges, and pleural cavity, and infection of pneumococcus in those sites are defined as an invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). High bacterial load, dysfunction of the immune system, and co-colonization of another microorganism may also lead to IPD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. e244759
Author(s):  
Mascarenhas Chrystle ◽  
Acharya Vishak ◽  
Kamath Sindhu ◽  
Mendonca Jane

Primary lung abscess as a complication of necrotising community-acquired pneumonia due to multidrug-resistant (MDR) Klebsiella pneumoniae is rare. A 63-year-old man with a medical history of type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease was diagnosed with lung abscess due to MDR Klebsiella pneumoniae, a rare organism as a causative agent for community-acquired pneumonia. This unusual case revealed therapeutic challenges faced owing to factors such as drug-resistant pathogen, longer duration of antibiotics required for lung abscess and the chronic kidney status of the patient limiting the dosage of antibiotics. The clinical nuggets discussed in this case might pave the way in the future for management guidelines to be formulated in optimising the selection and duration of therapy for lung abscesses with MDR aetiology and in early recognition of this rare but dreaded entity.


Hypertension ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
José Martín Alanís Naranjo ◽  
Gabriela Olguín Contreras ◽  
Cristo Raymundo Ibarra Jaimes

Introduction: The world is currently suffering from the outbreak of a pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the disease called COVID-19. This disease was reported for the first time in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on December 31, 2019. Hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are common among patients with COVID-19. In Mexico, information on the association between COVID-19 and hypertension is scarce. Methods: This investigation was a descriptive, observational and cross-sectional study that included patients over 18 years of age who had been hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 between April 6, 2020, and May 6, 2020, and exhibited chest X-ray abnormalities (ground-glass opacity, interstitial alterations and/or multilobar infiltrate). Severity of pneumonia (severe vs. nonsevere) at the time of admission was defined using the community-acquired pneumonia guidelines of the American Thoracic Society (ATS). Results: Information was collected from 89 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, 34 of whom (38.2%) were hypertensive. When studying risk factors in hypertensive patients and their degree of statistical association with risk of mortality, only the severity of pneumonia stood out. The association between severe pneumonia and mortality was statistically significant (OR: 10.9, CI 1.19-99.6, p value = 0.034). Conclusions: Severity of pneumonia upon admission can be regarded as a marker of adverse clinical outcome in hypertensive COVID-19 patients. Among hypertensive COVID-19 patients, in-hospital mortality was high (68%); such mortality was higher in our study than has been reported in other series worldwide.


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