Respiratory viral testing and antibacterial treatment in patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Viruses are more common than bacteria in patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia. Little is known, however, about the frequency of respiratory viral testing and its associations with antimicrobial utilization.

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

The study included 179 US hospitals.

Patients

Adults admitted with pneumonia between July 2010 and June 2015.

Methods

We assessed the frequency of respiratory virus testing and compared antimicrobial utilization, mortality, length of stay, and costs between tested versus untested patients, and between virus-positive versus virus-negative patients.

Results

Among 166,273 patients with pneumonia on admission, 40,787 patients (24.5%) were tested for respiratory viruses, 94.8% w

SUBMITTER: Klompas M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8665830 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature