Work

Simple and fast prediction of Legionella sp. in community-acquired pneumonia: validation of a prediction rule

Year: 2013

Type: article

Abstract: Ruling out Legionella sp. in patients presenting with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is important due to differences in treatment regimens. Yet antigen tests as well as blood cultures have low sensitivity and an important time delay, making empirical broad spectrum coverage necessary particularly in severe cases. Fiumefreddo and colleagues recently proposed a clinical score based on six clinical and laboratory variables (fever, cough, sodium, lactate-dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, platelet count) which allowed assessing the likelihood of Legionella [ 1 ]. Yet these variables need validation in an independent patient cohort before implementation into clinical routine.

Source: Critical Care

DOI: 10.1186/cc11977