Extract
Pneumonia has been a serious cause of morbidity and mortality for many years and, more than 100 years ago, Sir William Osler referred to it as “the natural enemy of the old man” [1]. Many studies have documented that elderly individuals have a higher frequency of illness, increased mortality and more subtle clinical features compared to younger populations. This too was known by Osler who commented that “it is not improbable that debility lowers the vitality and renders the individual susceptible” and when the illness occurs, it can be “without chill; the cough and expectoration are slight” and the physical findings non-specific [1]. He noted that while fever was not usually prominent, patients often had altered mental status and that pneumonia could precipitate congestive heart failure [1].
Abstract
Pneumonia is a common problem in the elderly with higher short- and long-term mortality than younger patients and similar age patients with other illnesses. Aggressive care may not be justified and broad-spectrum antibiotics may create antibiotic resistant pathogens that harm others. http://bit.ly/2P8LUNp
Footnotes
Provenance: Commissioned article, peer reviewed.
Conflict of interest: M.S. Niederman reports personal fees from Bayer, Shionogi, Polyphor, Pfizer and Nabriva, and grants from Bayer and Merck, outside the submitted work.
- Received February 1, 2020.
- Accepted February 12, 2020.
- Copyright ©ERS 2020.
This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licence 4.0.