Chronic and recurrent pneumonia. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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Chronic and recurrent pneumonia.

Semin Respir Infect. 1992 Dec;7(4):282-8. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/93331325
Geppert EF; Department of Medicine, University of Chicago Hospitals and; Clinics, IL 60637.

Abstract: Recurrent pneumonia is defined as two or (usually) more separate episodes of lower respiratory tract infection that generally are accompanied by fever, leucocytosis, and purulent sputum production. These episodes are separated by an asymptomatic interval of at least 1 month or clearing of the chest visible by radiograph. Clinical improvement and radiological clearing should result after appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Chronic pneumonia is an illness that lasts at least 6 weeks and is caused by a microorganism. The chest radiograph usually shows diffuse or focal shadows. The incidence of either chronic or recurrent chest infections is unknown. Neither condition is common, but when present, they frequently present a difficult diagnostic challenge. Chronic pneumonias are usually caused by slow-growing organisms, such as fungi or mycobacteria. Occasionally, chronic pneumonias cannot be diagnosed, even when lung biopsy specimens are cultured or studied histopathologically. When a patient presents with recurrent pulmonary parenchymal infections, the clinician needs to identify the likely etiologies. Possible etiologies are structural abnormalities, underlying medical conditions, and immunological abnormalities, including infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Keywords: Chronic Disease Human Incidence *Pneumonia/EPIDEMIOLOGY/ETIOLOGY/MICROBIOLOGY Recurrence JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW REVIEW, TUTORIALKWDchronicdiseasehumanincidenceKWDpneumonia/epidemiology/etiology/microbiologyrecurrencejournalarticlereviewreview,tutorial
931030
M93A0757

Copyright © 1993 - National Library of Medicine. Reproduced under license with the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.

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