Incidence and Cinical Characteristics of Severe Community-Acquired Pneumococcal Pneumonia: Comparisons with Non-Pneumoccocal Pathogens

Limited data are available on severe community-acquired pneumonia (severe CAP or SCAP) caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae in Korea. All patients who were admitted to a tertiary hospital for CAP from January 2007 to December 2008 were reviewed retrospectively, and SCAP was defined by 2007 Infectious Disease Society of America/American Thoracic Society criteria. In total, 94 patients were diagnosed with SCAP (mean age, 73.5 ± 14.3 years; male, 70). Among them, pneumococcal SCAP (P-SCAP) accounted for 24.5%, and non-P-SCAP accounted for 18.1% (four with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, [4.3%]; four with Staphylococcus aureus, [4.3%]), and no organisms were identified in 57.4% of the patients. A history of neoplasm was Less frequent, and the incidence of shock and pneumonia severity index (PSI) scores were Lower in patients with P-SCAP than in those with non-P-SCAP or with SCAP with no organism identified (p = 0.012, 0.023 and 0.007, respectively). Patients with P-SCAP had a Lower rate of treatment failure (p = 0.048) and tended to have Lower in-hospital and 30-day mortalities compared with those with non-P-SCAP. In a multivariate analysis, the history of neoplasm was the strongest independent factor for predicting 30-day mortality (odds ratio, 9.068; 95% confidence interval, 1.856-44.309). SCAP accounted for 24.5% of SCAP cases. P-SCAP was associated with Lower disease severity and a tendency toward better hospital outcomes compared with non-P-SCAP. (Korean J Med 2012;82:52-59)