Recent advances in the diagnosis and management of community-acquired pneumonia

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To describe key studies on community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) published in the last 12-18 months including the new American Thoracic Society (ATS) Guideline update. RECENT FINDINGS: The new ATS guidelines have recommendations regarding imaging, interpretation of viral detection in the upper airways, duration of antibiotics and corticosteroid therapy. Since publication, there have been key studies in several areas, particularly with corticosteroids and macrolides for therapy as well as the usefulness of diagnostic tests. SUMMARY: The use of corticosteroids has become less clear with the findings of the REMAP-CAP study and are probably only indicated in a very small subset of patients. New pathogen diagnostic tools find new pathogens, but do not seem to improve patient outcomes. Patients should not be put at risk by withholding empiric antibiotic therapy in the setting of detection of a virus in upper airways samples.