TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Principles of Antibiotic Use and the Selection of Empiric Therapy for Pneumonia A1 - Prakash, Bala A1 - Niederman, Michael S. A2 - Grippi, Michael A. A2 - Elias, Jack A. A2 - Fishman, Jay A. A2 - Kotloff, Robert M. A2 - Pack, Allan I. A2 - Senior, Robert M. A2 - Siegel, Mark D. PY - 2015 T2 - Fishman's Pulmonary Diseases and Disorders, 5e AB - Antibiotics are the foundation of therapy for respiratory tract infections. This approach varies with the type of pneumonia, age of the affected patient, presence of various comorbid illnesses and risk factors for infection by specific pathogens, and the severity of the acute illness. For most of the patients, initial therapy is empiric, aimed at a broad spectrum of potential pathogens (see Chapter 122). Once culture data become available, therapy can be pathogen-specific making it possible to de-escalate to fewer drugs with a narrower antimicrobial spectrum.1,2 In some cases, initial empiric therapy must be continued because no etiologic pathogen is identified (see Chapter 123). SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/29 UR - accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1122368926 ER -