New ATS practice guideline on community acquired pneumonia
In its latest clinical practice guideline on community-acquired pneumonia the American Thoracic Society's guidelines panel addresses the use of nucleic acid-based testing for non-influenza viral pathogens. The guideline was published online in the May 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. An explainer video may be viewed here.
Community-acquired pneumonia is caused by a wide range of respiratory pathogens, prominently including viruses. However, the only viral pathogen addressed by the 2019 clinical practice guideline was influenza. The panel determined that, given the increasing recognition of non-influenza viral causes of CAP and the expanded availability of diagnostic tests among clinicians, it was necessary to update the previous guideline to help guide treatment.
Using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation or GRADE framework, the panel made the following recommendations regarding the use of nucleic acid-based viral diagnostic testing for viral pathogens other than influenza in patients with suspected CAP:
Recommendation 1
In outpatients with suspected CAP, we suggest not performing routine nucleic-acid based testing of respiratory samples for viral pathogens other than influenza (conditional recommendation, very low-quality evidence)
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