ABSTRACT
Despite developments in antibiotic therapy over the last few decades, pneumonia remains a significant cause of death in the United Kingdom (UK) and for those who do recover the process may take many months (Moussaoui et al., 2006). One study undertaken in general practice suggested that people with a diagnosis of pneumonia have a significantly increased mortality in the short term, with cases 46 times more likely to die in the first 30 days after diagnosis, but some increase in mortality persists during longer-term follow-up (Myles et al., 2009). The British Thoracic Society (BTS) audit, which reviewed
hospital admissions for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), found that out of 5652 admissions the average age was 72 years and that during the last 4 years in which the audit took place in-patient mortality rates at 30 days had reduced (Lim and Rodrigo, 2013). Pneumonia can affect any age group and the World Health Organisation (WHO) (2013) suggests that pneumonia is the biggest killer of children worldwide. Pneumonia can be acquired in the community, in the acute hospital setting or in long-term care facilities. While there are some well-documented risk factors such as smoking or co-morbidities such as asthma, pneumonia can affect anyone. In addition, some groups of patients, such as the elderly,
will not have what would be considered characteristic signs and symptoms. There may be an absence of fever and symptoms might be much subtler. It is therefore necessary that healthcare professionals have a detailed understanding of pneumonia.
