Purpose: Many reports were found on the clinical properties of community-acquired pneumonia. The clinical properties of community-acquired pneumonia in patients with asthma have not been elucidated, and we therefore investigated such properties.
Materials and methods: Asthmatic patients who required hospitalization for community-acquired pneumonia from the beginning of 1989 through the end of 2001 were enrolled in this study. We performed the study in a retrospective manner. Patients were divided into two groups based on severity of their asthma (mild to moderate asthma vs severe asthma), and we studied the clinical properties of the pneumonia.
Result: No significant difference was seen in body temperature, white blood cell counts, or CRP value on admission between the two groups. No significant difference was seen in the resolving period of the pneumonia. The frequency of common pathogens (Streptococcus pneumoniae + Haemophilus influenzae) was lower in patients with severe asthma. Asthmatic patients not taking daily oral corticosteroids were divided into two groups based on whether or not they were using a inhaled corticosteroid, and we examined the frequency of pathogendetection. The percentage of common pathogens was almost the same in the two groups.
Conclusion: The frequency of common pathogens was lower in patients with severe asthma than in those with mild to moderate asthma. This fact is worth considering when empiric therapy for pneumonia is performed in patients with asthma. Inhaled corticosteroid therapy seems to have no influence on the pathogens of pneumonia in patients with asthma.