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Aetiological agents of adult community-acquired pneumonia in Japan: systematic review and meta-analysis of published data

Yuji Fujikura, Kohei Somekawa, Toshie Manabe, Nobuyuki Horita, Hiroshi Takahashi, Futoshi Higa, Kazuhiro Yatera, Naoyuki Miyashita et al.

BMJ Open Respiratory Research, 2023

20 citations

Abstract

Objective Epidemiological information is essential in providing appropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy for pneumonia. This study aimed to clarify the epidemiology of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) by conducting a systematic review of published studies in Japan. Design Systematic review. Data source PubMed and Ichushi web database (January 1970 to October 2022). Eligibility criteria Clinical studies describing pathogenic micro-organisms in CAP written in English or Japanese, excluding studies on pneumonia other than adult CAP, investigations limited to specific pathogens and case reports. Data extraction and synthesis Patient setting (inpatient vs outpatient), number of patients, concordance with the CAP guidelines, diagnostic criteria and methods for diagnosing pneumonia pathogens as well as the numbers of each isolate. A meta-analysis of various situations was performed to measure the frequency of each aetiological agent. Results Fifty-six studies were included and 17 095 cases of CAP were identified. Pathogens were undetectable in 44.1% (95% CI 39.7% to 48.5%). Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most common cause of CAP requiring hospitalisation or outpatient care (20.0% (95% CI 17.2% to 22.8%)), followed by Haemophilus influenzae (10.8% (95% CI 7.3% to 14.3%)) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae (7.5% (95% CI 4.6% to 10.4%)). However, when limited to CAP requiring hospitalisation, Staphylococcus aureus was the third most common at 4.9% (95% CI 3.9% to 5.8%). Pseudomonas…

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