Pneumonia in Older Persons

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is an important threat to the health of older adults. Streptococcus pneumonia remains the most important cause of CAP. Risk factors for CAP include alcoholism, asthma, immunosuppression, chronic respiratory or cardiac disease, institutionalization, and increasing age. Residents of long-term care facilities--a distinct subpopulation of elderly people--are at particularly high risk for developing pneumonia. In …