Based on expert group work, Swedish recommendations for the management of community-acquired pneumonia in adults are here updated. The management of sepsis-induced hypotension is addressed in detail, including monitoring and parenteral therapy. The importance of respiratory support in cases of acute respiratory failure is emphasized. Treatment with high-flow oxygen and non-invasive ventilation is recommended. The use of statins or steroids in general therapy is not found to be fully supported by evidence. In the management of pleural infection, new data show favourable effects of tissue plasminogen activator and deoxyribonuclease installation. Detailed recommendations for the vaccination of risk groups are afforded.

We studied the immunoglobulin (Ig) response to causative serotype-specific capsular polysaccharides in adult pneumococcal pneumonia patients. The serotypes were grouped according to their degree of encapsulation and invasive potential. Seventy patients with pneumococcal pneumonia, 20 of whom were bacteremic, were prospectively studied. All pneumococcal isolates from the patients were serotyped, and the Ig titers to the homologous serotype were determined in acute-and convalescent-phase sera using a serotype-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The Ig titers were lower in bacteremic cases than in nonbacteremic cases (P < 0.042). The Ig titer ratio (convalescent/acute titer) was >2 in 33 patients, 1 to 1.99 in 20 patients, and <1 in 17 patients. Patients >65 years old had a lower median Ig titer ratio than did younger patients (P < 0.031). The patients with serotypes with a thin capsule (1, 4, 7F, 9N, 9V, and 14) and medium/high invasive potential (1, 4, 7F, 9N, 9V, 14, and 18C) had higher Ig titer ratios than did patients with serotypes with a thick capsule (3, 6B, 11A, 18C, 19A, 19F, and 23F) and low invasive potential (3, 6B, 19A, 19F, and 23F) (P < 0.05 for both comparisons after adjustment for age). Ig titer ratios of <1 were predominantly noted in patients with serotypes with a thick capsule. In 8 patients with pneumococcal DNA detected in plasma, the three patients with the highest DNA load had the lowest Ig titer ratios. In conclusion, a high antibody response was associated with serotypes with a thin capsule and medium/high invasive potential, although a low antibody response was associated with serotypes with a thick capsule and a high pneumococcal plasma load.

The use of urinary antigen tests (UATs) may provide early etiology in pneumonia, and facilitates rapid and directed antibiotic treatment. In this study, we evaluated the novel lateral flow ImmuView Streptococcus pneumoniae and Legionella pneumophila UAT, which detects pneumococcal and L. pneumophila serogroup 1 antigens in a combined test. We compared the ImmuView UAT with the BinaxNOW S. pneumoniae UAT and the BinaxNOW L. pneumophila UAT in 147 patients with pneumococcal bacteremia (n = 48), non-pneumococcal non-Legionella bacteremia (n = 93) and Legionella infections in the lower airways (L. pneumophila, n = 5; L. bozemanii, n = 1). In three cases, the ImmuView test was invalid before and after boiling while the BinaxNOW tests were valid in all cases. In 144 cases, the three UATs demonstrated a very good inter-assay agreement for detection of pneumococcal antigen (κ = 0.86) and L. pneumophila antigen (κ = 1.00). The ImmuView and BinaxNOW S. pneumoniae tests had similar sensitivities (62% vs 60%; p = ns) in 48 cases with pneumococcal bacteremia and both tests had specificities of 97% in 96 cases with non-pneumococcal infections. Furthermore, the ImmuView and BinaxNOW L. pneumophila tests were positive for Legionella antigen in five patients with confirmed L. pneumophila serogroup 1 infections, and negative in all non-L. pneumophila cases. The ImmuView and BinaxNOW tests performed similarly when evaluated on urine samples from bacteremic and non-bacteremic patients with identified etiology.

BackgroundWe aimed to study if certain clinical and/or microbiological factors are associated with a high nasopharyngeal (NP) density of Streptococcus pneumoniae in pneumococcal pneumonia. In addition, we aimed to study if a high NP pneumococcal density could be useful to detect severe pneumococcal pneumonia.MethodsAdult patients hospitalized for radiologically confirmed community-acquired pneumonia were included in a prospective study. NP aspirates were collected at admission and were subjected to quantitative PCR for pneumococcal DNA (Spn9802 DNA). Patients were considered to have pneumococcal etiology if S. pneumoniae was detected in blood culture and/or culture of respiratory secretions and/or urinary antigen test.ResultsOf 166 included patients, 68 patients had pneumococcal DNA detected in NP aspirate. Pneumococcal etiology was noted in 57 patients (84%) with positive and 8 patients (8.2%) with negative test for pneumococcal DNA (p<0.0001). The median NP pneumococcal density of DNA positive patients with pneumococcal etiology was 6.83 log10 DNA copies/mL (range 1.79–9.50). In a multivariate analysis of patients with pneumococcal etiology, a high pneumococcal density was independently associated with severe pneumonia (Pneumonia Severity Index risk class IV-V), symptom duration ≥2 days prior to admission, and a medium/high serum immunoglobulin titer against the patient’s own pneumococcal serotype. NP pneumococcal density was not associated with sex, age, smoking, co-morbidity, viral co-infection, pneumococcal serotype, or bacteremia. Severe pneumococcal pneumonia was noted in 28 study patients. When we studied the performance of PCR with different DNA cut-off levels for detection of severe pneumococcal pneumonia, we found sensitivities of 54–82% and positive predictive values of 37–56%, indicating suboptimal performance.ConclusionsPneumonia severity, symptom duration ≥2 days, and a medium/high serum immunoglobulin titer against the patient’s own serotype were independently associated with a high NP pneumococcal density. NP pneumococcal density has limited value for detection of severe pneumococcal pneumonia.

Background Influenza may cause myocardial injury and trigger acute cardiovascular events. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and prognostic implications of elevated high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) in patients with influenza. Methods and results In this prospective cohort study we consecutively enrolled patients with influenza-like illness from two emergency departments in Sweden during three seasons of influenza, 2017-2020. Ongoing Influenza infection was diagnosed by polymerase chain reaction and blood samples were collected for later analysis of hs-cTnI. All patients were followed-up for a composite endpoint of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) including death, myocardial infarction, unstable angina, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and stroke within 1 year. Of the 466 patients with influenza-like symptoms, 181 (39%) were positive for influenza. Fifty (28%) patients were hospitalized. Hs-cTnI was elevated in 11 (6%) patients and eight (4%) experienced MACE. In univariate analyses MACE was associated with age (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05 -1.23), hypertension (HR 5.56, 95%CI: 1.12-27.53), estimated glomerular filtration rate, (HR: 0.94, 95%CI: 0.91 -0.97), and elevated hs-cTnI (HR: 18.29, 95%CI: 4.57 -73.24), NT-proBNP (HR: 14.21, 95%CI: 1.75 -115.5), hs-CRP (HR: 1.01, 95%CI: 1.00 -1.02) and white blood cell count (HR: 1.12, 95%CI: 1.01 -1.25). In multivariate analysis elevated hs-cTnI was independently associated with MACE (HR: 4.96, 95%CI: 1.10 -22.41). Conclusion The prevalence of elevated hs-cTnI is low in unselected patients with influenza. Elevated hs-cTnI was associated with poor prognosis. A limitation is that the estimated associations are uncertain due to few events.