Community-Acquired Pneumonia: The Importance of the Early Detection of Drug-Resistant Organisms

Authors

Sai Doppalapudi
Muhammad Adrish

Publication Date

6-9-2024

Journal

World Journal of Critical Care Medicine

DOI

10.5492/wjccm.v13.i2.91314

PMID

38855277

PMCID

PMC11155498

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

6-9-2024

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Polymerase chain reaction, Antibiotic resistance, Bacterial colonization, Infective endocarditis

Abstract

Pneumonia is a disease associated with significant healthcare burden with over 1.5 million hospitalizations annually and is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States. While community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is generally considered an acute time-limited illness, it is associated with high long-term mortality, with nearly one-third of patients requiring hospitalization dying within one year. An increasing trend of detecting multidrug-resistant (MDR) organisms causing CAP has been observed, especially in the Western world. In this editorial, we discuss about a publication by Jatteppanavar et al which reported that a case of a MDR organism was the culprit in developing pneumonia, bacteremia, and infective endocarditis that led to the patient’s death. The early detection of these resistant organisms helps improve patient outcomes. Significant advances have been made in the biotechnological and research space, but preventive measures, diagnostic techniques, and treatment strategies need to be developed.