lung and airway disorders
Community Acquired Pneumonia
Introduction
Community-acquired pneumonia is lung infection that develops in people who are not patients in a hospital, usually in people with normal (competent) immune systems, or in those who are immunocompromised, but pneumonia in people who are immunocompromised is discussed separately. Many bacteria, viruses, and fungi can cause pneumonia. The most common symptom of pneumonia is a cough that produces sputum, but chest pain, chills, fever, and shortness of breath are also common. Doctors diagnose community-acquired pneumonia by listening to the lungs with a stethoscope and by reading x-rays or computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest. Antibiotics, antiviral drugs, or antifungal drugs are used depending on which organism doctors believe has caused the pneumonia. (See also Overview of Pneumonia .) 