NICE has released updated Pneumonia Guidelines that focus on diagnosis and management and replace the NICE antimicrobial prescribing guidelines on community-acquired pneumonia and hospital-acquired pneumonia (both published September 2019).
The recommendations for pneumonia in children and adults provide guidance on a common respiratory infection that can have a considerable impact both on the individual and on healthcare provision and resources. Pneumonia accounts for 29,000 deaths per year in the UK, and 5% to 15% of people hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia die within 30 days of admission, rising to 30% for those admitted to an intensive care unit.
The guideline covers diagnosing, assessing, and treating community-acquired and hospital-acquired pneumonia, including bacterial pneumonia secondary to COVID-19, in babies over 1 month (corrected gestational age), children, young people and adults. It aims to optimise antibiotic use and reduce antibiotic resistance.
Recommendations include:
- assessing community-acquired pneumonia
- investigations in hospital
- antibiotic treatment for community-acquired pneumonia – a change to the course length of antibiotics from 5 days to 3 days, for babies and children aged 3 months (corrected gestational age) to 11 years with non-severe community-acquired pneumonia without complications of underlying disease.
- corticosteroid treatment in hospital – recommended for adults with high severity community-acquired pneumonia
- non-invasive respiratory support
- information for parents or carers of children with community-acquired pneumonia
- use of biomarkers after starting treatment
- follow-up chest X-rays
Source: www.nice.org.uk
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