Severe community-acquired pneumonia: current outcomes, epidemiology, etiology, and therapy.

Severe community-acquired pneumonia is a clinical diagnosis with a significant impact on healthcare management around the world, with the highest morbidity and mortality of all of the forms of community-acquired pneumonia. Patients with severe pneumonia usually require intensive care unit management, including vasopressors or mechanical ventilation. Early clinical suspicion and prompt empiric antimicrobial therapies are mandatory in patients with severe pneumonia. A number of recent studies and guidelines addressing these issues have been published, and they will be reviewed in this article.