Atypical Pneumonia--time to Breathe New Life into a Useful Term?

Overview

Journal Lancet Infect Dis

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2009 Jul 25

PMID 19628176

Citations 6

Authors

David R Murdoch

Stephen T Chambers

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The term atypical pneumonia was originally used to describe an unusual presentation of pneumonia. It is now more widely used in reference to either pneumonia caused by a relatively common group of pathogens, or to a distinct clinical syndrome the existence of which is difficult to demonstrate. As such, the use of atypical pneumonia is often inaccurate, potentially confusing, and of dubious scientific merit. We need to return to the original meaning of atypical pneumonia and restrict its use to describe pneumonia that is truly unusual in clinical presentation, epidemiology, or both.

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