Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs. It usually is caused by bacteria. Pneumonia can be mild and just cause cough, or severe and cause cough with phlegm or mucus, fever about 39°C or even higher, trouble breathing, pain when taking a breath, a fast heartbeat, and shaking chills. Pneumonia can be a serious disease. You should see your doctor as soon as possible if you think you have pneumonia. Some patients might have severe pneumonia. These patients might need powerful antibiotics and treatment in a hospital. The term “community-acquired pneumonia” (CAP) is used specifically to distinguish it from “hospital-acquired pneumonia” (HAP), because their treatment is different.
And the time has now come to change the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Two randomised controlled clinical studies and a meta-analysis from 2015 showed that a short course (5-7 days) of daily moderate-dose systemic corticosteroids in hospitalised patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) leads to better clinical outcomes, including less treatment-failures, less deaths, and shorter time to clinical stability, especially in patients with severe pneumonia.