Bacterial Pneumonia (Nursing)

Excerpt

The word "pneumonia" originates from the ancient Greek word "pneumon" which means "lung," so the word "penumonia" becomes "lung disease." Medically it is an inflammation of one or both lung's parenchyma that is more often but not always caused by infections. The many causes of pneumonia include bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. This article is about bacterial causes of pneumonia as it is the major cause of mortality and morbidity by pneumonia. According to the new classification of pneumonia, there are four categories: community-acquired (CAP), hospital-acquired (HAP), healthcare-associated (HCAP) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). [1]

Types of Bacterial Pneumonia

1. CAP: The acute infection of lung tissue in a patient who has acquired it from the community.

2. HAP: The acute infection of lung tissue that develops 48 hours or longer after the hospitalization of a non-intubated patient.

3. VAP: A type of nosocomial infection of lung tissue that usually develops 48 hours or longer after intubation for mechanical ventilation.

4. HCAP: The acute infection of lung tissue acquired from healthcare facilities such as nursing homes, dialysis centres, and outpatient clinics or a patient with hospitalization within the past 3 months (previously included in HAP but becomes a separate category after some cases presenting as outpatients with pneumonia have been found to be infected with multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens previously associated with HAP).

Some articles include both HAP and VAP under the category of HCAP, so defining HCAP is problematic and controversial.