Abstract
Background Antibiotic resistance is a major global health problem and pathogens such as meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have become of particular concern in the management of lower respiratory tract infections. However, few data are available on the worldwide prevalence and risk factors for MRSA pneumonia. We aimed to determine the point prevalence of MRSA pneumonia and identify specific MRSA risk factors in community-dwelling patients hospitalised with pneumonia. Methods We did an international, multicentre study of community-dwelling, adult patients admitted to hospital with pneumonia who had microbiological tests taken within 24 h of presentation. We recruited investigators from 222 hospitals in 54 countries to gather point-prevalence data for all patients admitted with these characteristics during 4 days randomly selected during the months of March, April, May, and June in 2015. We assessed prevalence of MRSA pneumonia and associated risk factors through logistic regression analysis. Findings 3702 patients hospitalised with pneumonia were enrolled, with 3193 patients receiving microbiological tests within 24 h of admission, forming the patient population. 1173 (37%) had at least one pathogen isolated (culture-positive population). The overall prevalence of confirmed MRSA pneumonia was 3·0% (n=95), with differing prevalence between continents and countries. Three risk factors were independently associated with MRSA pneumonia: previous MRSA infection or colonisation (odds ratio 6·21, 95% CI 3·25–11·85), recurrent skin infections (2·87, 1·10–7·45), and severe pneumonia disease (2·39, 1·55–3·68). Interpretation This multicountry study shows low prevalence of MRSA pneumonia and specific MRSA risk factors among community-dwelling patients hospitalised with pneumonia. Funding None.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | The Lancet Infectious Diseases |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1364-1376 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| ISSN | 1473-3099 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01.12.2016 |
Funding
This international, multicentre, point-prevalence study showed that patients with community-acquired pneumonia have a low prevalence of MRSA, but that the rates of MRSA-positive pneumonia varied among participating centres from all six continents and among countries within the same continent. Previous MRSA infections or colonisation, recurrent skin infection, and severe community-acquired pneumonia were specific risk factors independently associated with MRSA community-acquired pneumonia. The low prevalence of MRSA community-acquired pneumonia is the result of a low prevalence of S aureus as the pathogen of the pneumonia. Additionally, the rate of MRSA community-acquired pneumonia was lower than that previously reported from administrative databases and retrospective or prospective cohort studies of patients with pneumonia. 7,20,21 This difference in prevalence rates could be driven by several factors, such as the characteristics of the patients evaluated, presence of risk factors among specific communities, and microbial ecology of the region. As presented in our study, the prevalence rate for MRSA is much higher among culture-positive patients with community-acquired pneumonia, consistent with the previous literature. 6 We suggest against using culture-positive patients as a real-life denominator, because this does not represent at risk patients among all the patients with the disease. For instance, all patients with community-acquired pneumonia that have had microbiological testing represent the same patients for whom empirical antibiotic coverage for MRSA would be considered at the time of hospitalisation while waiting 48–72 h for culture results. Thus, clinicians aware of low prevalence rates of MRSA community-acquired pneumonia might not initiate empirical anti-MRSA therapies, despite the presence of certain clinical characteristics. Another major finding of our study is that prevalence rates of MRSA community-acquired pneumonia vary from 0% to 18·5% across different continents ( appendix p 12 ) and among countries on the same continent ( appendix p 13 ). The differences observed between continents suggest that Europe has a much lower prevalence rate of MRSA pneumonia than North America, South America, and Asia. However, among the highest participating countries in Europe, Spain had more MSSA than MRSA, by contrast with what was observed in Germany or Italy, where the proportion of MRSA was higher than MSSA ( appendix p 12 ). These differences among continents and countries might be driven by multiple factors, such as differences in microbial ecology (eg, different circulating strains such as USA300 community-associated MRSA in the USA), patient risk factors, antimicrobial resistance patterns, and health-care systems. The immediate implication of these findings is that continent-level antimicrobial guidelines might be inadequate because of differences in prevalence among countries from the same continent ( appendix p 13 ). Furthermore, these findings suggest that recommendations for appropriate antibiotic use should be driven by local MRSA prevalence rates in the community before adopting a generic “one size fits all” recommendation. Empirical antibiotic coverage against MRSA in patients with community-acquired pneumonia should be initiated on the basis of the presence of specific risk factors. 22 We identify three independently associated risk factors for MRSA community-acquired pneumonia: previous MRSA infection or colonisation, recurrent skin infections, and severe pneumonia. These risk factors were identified consistently in both evaluated cohorts that included patients that underwent microbiological testing or had culture-positive pneumonia. Although previous MRSA infection and recurrent skin infections are well known risk factors for MRSA infection, 23,24 they have not been previously associated with MRSA community-acquired pneumonia to our knowledge. The presence of previous MRSA infection or colonisation, whether by history or MRSA colonisation of the nares, could assist clinicians in stratifying patients at risk for MRSA-positive pneumonia, especially in critically ill patients with severe disease. The high negative predictive value (99%) of MRSA nasal swabs observed in populations with low prevalence of the MRSA community-acquired pneumonia as in our study, suggests that a negative test will preclude the need of empirical anti-MRSA antibiotic coverage. 25 Additionally, some studies suggest that empirical antibiotic therapy against multidrug-resistant pathogens including MRSA pneumonia were associated with worse survival. 22,26 This approach could simplify identification of patients in whom empiric antibiotic coverage is justified and shift the focus to selecting appropriate anti-MRSA antimicrobial drugs. This study has important strengths and limitations. A strength is the enrolment of a large and diverse group of patients from different continents and countries around the world in GLIMP. However, differences in health-care systems, hospital facilities, and local or regional protocols for the management of community-acquired pneumonia in these centres could limit our findings. Additionally, we were not able to include a high number of investigators from Asia and Africa resulting in a modest assessment of MRSA pneumonia prevalence on these continents. However, GLIMP is the first study to our knowledge to enrol patients across six continents. Despite this large cohort of patients enrolled in 4 days, the sample size could have been larger for the nature of this multicountry study. These results might be due to the characteristics of the study design and the uncertainty about how many patients with pneumonia were admitted at one point in time to the different hospitals. Therefore, this new evidence regarding the prevalence rate of MRSA may inform future observational studies to consider larger sample sizes. Patients included in this study might also have recall bias that would affect the patients' ability to report previous recurrent skin infections or MRSA colonisation. Additionally, not all participating centres universally tested for MRSA colonisation on hospital admission. The number of patients enrolled in some centres was low, which might be explained by the size of the hospital or because the number of patients admitted with community-acquired pneumonia on a particular day was low. Furthermore, seasons differed by country during this study. Some countries were in the autumn on the first day of enrolment, which might explain the low number of patients hospitalised due to community-acquired pneumonia. To mitigate the effects of seasonal variation, we enrolled patients through June to include patients during the southern hemisphere's winter season. It is possible that patients with positive blood cultures for MRSA might also have positive sputum samples, but the dataset only allowed choice of the predominant pathogen from the most likely source of infection and this was not documented. In conclusion, the global prevalence of MRSA as an aetiological pathogen in community-dwelling patients hospitalised with pneumonia is lower than has been previously estimated. There are important differences in MRSA prevalence between different continents and among countries within the same continent. A better understanding of this variability at a local level is crucial to develop protocols, policies, and guidelines to identify patients at risk for MRSA-positive pneumonia. Finally, the specific risk factors for MRSA community-acquired pneumonia identified in this study might help to assist clinicians when deciding to initiate empiric antibiotic coverage against MRSA. Future epidemiological studies to assess the fluctuations of microbial ecology of drug-resistant pathogens are needed to improve our understanding of how these pathogens evolve around the world. This online publication has been corrected. The corrected version first appeared at thelancet.com/infection on October 18, 2016 Contributors SA, LFR, PF, and MIR designed the study and invited researchers to participate in the study. SA, LFR, PF, NJS, and MIR enrolled patients in the study, alongside the GLIMP investigators. SA, LFR, PF, GS, SD, AHR, and MIR performed statistical analysis. SA, LFR, PF, GS, SD, AHR, NJS, and MIR wrote and edited the manuscript and contributed intellectually. GLIMP investigators Argentina —Patricia Karina Aruj (Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Alfredo Lanari, Buenos Aires, Argentina); Silvia Attorri (Hospital Luis Lagomaggiore, Mendoza, Argentina); Enrique Barimboim (Hospital Central de Mendoza, Argentina); Juan Pablo Caeiro, María I Garzón (Hospital Privado Universitario, Córdoba, Argentina); Victor Hugo Cambursano (V H Dr Cazaux A Servicio de Neumologia, Hospital Rawson, Córdoba, Argentina); Adrian Ceccato (Hospital Nacional Prof Alejandro Posadas, Argentina); Julio Chertcoff, Florencia Lascar, Fernando Di Tulio (Critical Care Unit and Respiratory Medicine, Buenos Aires British Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina); Ariel Cordon Díaz (Hospital General Alvear, Ciudad, Mendoza, Argentina); Lautaro de Vedia (Respiratory Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Muñiz, Buenos Aires, Argentina); Maria Cristina Ganaha (Infectious Diseases Ward, Hospital Interzonal General de Agudos, Vicente Lopez y Planes from General Rodriguez, Buenos Aires, Argentina); Sandra Lambert (Hospital El Cruce - Alta Complejidad en Red, Argentina); Gustavo Lopardo, Hospital Bernardo Houssay, Vicente López, Argentina); Carlos M Luna (Pulmonary Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Hospital de Clínicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina); Alessio Gerardo Malberti (Hospital Nuestra Señora del Carmen, Argentina); Nora Morcillo and Silvina Tartara (Hospital Zonal Especializado de Agudos y Crónicos Dr Antonio A Cetrangolo, Argentina); Claudia Pensotti (Infectious Diseases and Infection Control Department, Buenos Aires, Clinica Privada Monte Grande, Argentina); Betiana Pereyra (Hospital San Roque, Córdoba, Argentina); Pablo Gustavo Scapellato (Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital D F Santojanni, Argentina); Juan Pablo Stagnaro (HZGA Mi Pueblo, Florencio Varela, Argentina). Australia —Sonali Shah (Department of General Medicine, Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Australia). Austria –Felix Lötsch, Florian Thalhammer (Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Austria). Belgium —Jean Louis Vincent (Department of Intensive Care, Erasme University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium); Kurt Anseeuw (ZNA Campus Stuivenberg, Antwerp, Belgium); Camille A Francois (Anesthesia and critical care department, Erasme university hospital, Brussels, Belgium); Eva Van Braeckel (Department of Respiratory Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium). Benin —Marcel Zannou Djimon, Jules Bashi, Dodo Roger (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire HKM of Cotonou, Benin). Brazil —Simone Aranha Nouér (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Bulgaria —Peter Chipev, Milena Encheva (Clinic of Pulmonary Diseases, Military Medical Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria); Darina Miteva (UMHAT “St. Marina”, Varna, Bulgaria); Diana Petkova (University Hospital Varna, Bulgaria. Ca meroon —Balkissou Adamou Dodo (Yaounde Jamot Hospital, Yaounde, Cameroon); Mbatchou Ngahane Bertrand Hugo (Douala General Hospital, Douala, Cameroon). China —Ning Shen (Respiratory Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China); Jin-fu Xu, (Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, China). Colombia —Carlos Andres Bustamante Rico, Ricardo Buitrago (Clinica Shaio, Bogota, Colombia); Fernando Jose Pereira Paternina (Las Americas Clinic, Medellin, Colombia). Congo —Kayembe Ntumba Jean-Marie (Cliniques Universitaires de Kinshasa, DR Congo). Croatia —Vesna Vladic Carevic (Interne Medicine, Dubrovnik, Croatia); Marko Jakopovic (Medical School, University of Zagreb, Department for Respiratory Diseases Jordanovac, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia); Mateja Jankovic (University Hospital Center Zagreb, Department for Respiratory Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia); Zinka Matkovic (University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia); Ivan Mitrecic (Karlovac general hospital, Karlovac, Croatia). Denmark —Marie-Laure Bouchy Jacobsson (Emergency Department in North Zealand Hospital – Hillerød, Denmark); Anette Bro Christensen (Department of Anaethesiology, Viborg Region Hospital, Denmark); Uffe Christian HeitmannBødtger (Department of Pulmonology, Naestved Hospital, Denmark); Christian Niels Meyer (Department of Internal Medicine, Roskilde Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark); Andreas Vestergaard Jensen, Gertrud Baunbæk-knudsen, Pelle Trier Petersen and Stine Andersen (Department of Lung and Infectious Diseases, Nordsjællands Hospital-Hillerød, Denmark). Egypt —Ibrahim El-Said Abd El-Wahhab (Thoracic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt); Nesreen Elsayed Morsy (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt); Hanaa Shafiek (Chest diseases department, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt); Eman Sobh (Chest Diseases Department, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt). France —Fabrice Bertrand (Critical care Unit, Robert Ballanger Hospital, Aulnay sous Bois, France); Christian Brun-Buisson (Univ Hospital Henri Mondor, 94000 Créteil, France); Etienne de Montmollin (Intensive care unit, Hôpital Delafontaine, Centre hospitalier de Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, France); Muriel Fartoukh (Unité de réanimation médico-chirurgicale, Pôle Thorax Voies aériennes, Hôpital Tenon, Groupe Hospitalier Est Parisien, France); Jonathan Messika (Publique-Hôpital de Paris, Service de Réanimation Médico-chirurgicale, Hôpital Louis Mourier, Colombes, France, and Université Paris Diderot, IAME, UMR 1137, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France); Pierre Tattevin (Infectious Diseases & ICU, Pontchaillou University Hospital, Rennes, France). Germany —Michael Dreher (Department of Cardiology, Pneumology, Vascular Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Aachen, Aachen, Germany); Martin Kolditz (Division of Pulmonology, Medical Department I, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany); Matthias Meisinger (Klinikum Niederlausitz GmbH, Klinik für Innere Medizin und Intensivmedizin, Senftenberg, Germany); Mathias W Pletz and Stefan Hagel (Center for Infectious Diseases and Infection Control, Jena University Hospital, Germany); Jan Rupp (Department of Molecular and Infectious Diseases, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany); Tom Schaberg (Zentrum für Pneumologie, Agaplesion Diakonieklinikum Rotenburg, Germany); Marc Spielmanns (Internal Medicine Department, Pulmonary rehabilitation and Department of Health, School of Medicine, University Witten-Herdecke, St Remigius-Hospital, Leverkusen, Germany). Ghana —Beatrice Siaw-Lartey (Komfo-Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana). Greece —Katerina Dimakou (5th Rerpiratory Medicine Dpt, “SOTIRIA” Chest Hospital, Athens, Greece); Dimosthenis Papapetrou (Medical Group of Athens, Paleo Faliro Clinic, Athens, Greece); Evdoxia Tsigou and Dimitrios Ampazis, Agioi Anargiroi Hospital, Kifissia, Athens, Greece). India —Mohit Bhatia (S S Hospital IMS BHU Varanasi, India); Raja Dhar (Fortis Hospitals, Kolkata, India); George D'Souza (Department of Pulmonary Medicine, St John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, India); Rajiv Garg (Department of Respiratory Medicine, King George's Medical University UP, Lucknow, India); Parvaiz A Koul (Department of Internal & Pulmonary Medicine, SheriKashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, India); P A Mahesh and B S Jayaraj (Department of Pulmonary Medicine, JSS Medical College, JSS University, Mysore, India); Kiran Vishnu Narayan (Pulmonary Medicine, Government Medical College Kozhikode, Kerala, India); Hirennappa B Udnur and Shashi Bhaskara Krishnamurthy (Columbia Asia Hospital, Hebbal, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India). Iran —Keihan Golshani (Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran). Ireland —Vera M Keatings (Letterkenny General Hospital, Co. Donegal, Ireland); Ignacio Martin-Loeches (Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Research Organization (MICRO), St James's University Hospital, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences Dublin, Ireland). Israel —Yasmin Maor (Infectious Disease Unit, Affiliated to Tel Aviv University, Wolfson Medical Center, Holon, Israel); Jacob Strahilevitz (Department of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Hadassah-Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel). Italy —Salvatore Battaglia (University of Palermo, Pneumologia DiBiMIS, Palermo, Italy); Maria Carrabba (Internal Medicine Department, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano, Italy); Piero Ceriana (Pulmonary rehabilitation, IRCCS Fondazione Maugeri, Pavia Italy); Marco Confalonieri (Department of Pulmunology, University Hospital, Trieste, Italy); Antonella d'Arminio Monforte (Department of Health Sciences, Clinic of Infectious Disease, San Paolo Hospital, University of Milan, Italy); Bruno Del Prato (Interventional Pneumology, Hospital Antonio Cardarelli, Naples, Italy); Marino De Rosa (UOC Pneumologia San Filippo Neri ASL RM E, Rome, Italy); Riccardo Fantini (Respiratory Diseases Clinic, Policlinico di Modena, Modena, Italy); Giuseppe Fiorentino (UOC Fisiopatologia e Riabilitazione Respiratoria AO Ospedali dei Colli PO, Monaldi, Italy); Maria Antonia Gammino (Pulmonary Medicine Unit, San Martino Hospital, ASL 5 Oristano, Sardegna, Italy); Francesco Menzella (Department of Cardiac-Thoracic-Vascular and Intensive Care Medicine, Pneumology Unit, IRCCS- Arcispedale Santa Maria Nuova, Reggio Emilia, Italy); Giuseppe Milani (Azienda Ospedaliera Sant Anna di Como, Presidio Ospedale S Anna Nuovo, Unità Operativa di Pneumologia, Como, Italy); Stefano Nava (Alma Mater University of Bologna, DIMES, Respiratory and Critical Care Unit Sant'Orsola Malpighi Hospital, Italy); Gerardo Palmiero (Respiratory Unity, Versilia Hospital, Azienda USL 12 Viareggio, Lido di Camaiore, Lucca, Italy); Roberta Petrino and Barbra Gabrielli (Emergency Medicine Unit, S. Andrea Hospital, Vercelli, Italy); Paolo Rossi (Internal Medicine Department, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria S. Maria della Misericordia, Udine, Italy); Claudio Sorino (Pulmonology Unit, AO Sant'Anna di Como, Italy); Gundi Steinhilber (Spedali Civili Brescia, UO Pneumologia e Fisiopatologia Respiratoria, Brescia, Italy); Alessandro Zanforlin (ULSS 18 Rovigo, Ospedale San Luca, Trecenta, Italy). Japan —Kiyoyasu Kurahashi (Yokohama City University Medical Center, Japan). Lebanon —Zeina Aoun Bacha (Medicine school, St Joseph University, Beyrouth, Lebanon). Mexico —Daniel Barajas Ugalde (National Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Mexico); Omar Ceballos Zuñiga (Hospital General de Mexicali, Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico); José F Villegas (Hospital Universitario Monterrey, México). Montenegro —Milic Medenica, Hospital for Lung Diseases—Brezovik, Niksic, Montenegro). Netherlands —E M W van de Garde (Dept. Clinical Pharmacy, St Antonius Hospital, Utrecht/Nieuwegein, Netherlands). Nepal —Deebya Raj Mihsra (Internal Medicine, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Nepal); Poojan Shrestha, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Patan Hospital, Nepal). New Zealand —Elliott Ridgeon (Medical Research Institute of New Zealand). Nigeria —Babatunde Ishola Awokola (Department of Family Medicine & Primary Care, Lily Hospitals Limited, Warri, Nigeria); Ogonna N O Nwankwo (University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria); Adefuye Bolanle Olufunlola (Olabisi Onabanjo University teaching hospital, Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria); Segaolu Olumide (Department of Medicine, Pulmonary Unit, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria); Kingsley N Ukwaja (Department of Medicine, Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria). Pakistan —Muhammad Irfan (Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan). Poland —Lukasz Minarowski (Department of Lung Diseaes and Tuberculosis, Medical University of Bialystok, Poland); Skoczyński Szymon (Department of Pneumology, School of Medicine in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Institute of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, Sosnowiec, Poland). Portugal —Felipe Froes (Hospital Pulido Valente - CHLN, Lisboa, Portugal); Pedro Leuschner (Centro Hospitalar do Porto, Porto, Portugal); Mariana Meireles, Cláudia Ferrão, Pedro Leuschner and João Neves (Serviço de Medicina, Centro Hospitalar do Porto, Largo, Abel Salazar, Porto, Portugal); Sofia B Ravara (Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior); Cova da Beira Hospital Center, Covilhã, Portugal). Moldova —Victoria Brocovschii (Department of Pneumology & Allergology, State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemitanu”, Moldova); Chesov Ion (Clinic of Anesthesia and Intensive Care “Valeriu Ghrerg”, Institute of Emergency Medicine, State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemitanu”, Chisinau, Moldova); Doina Rusu (SMFU “N Testemitanu”, Chisinau, Moldova); Cristina Toma (Department of Pneumology & Allergology, State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemitanu”, Chisinau, Moldova). Romania —Daniela Chirita (Hospital Sfantul Stefan, Bucharest, Romania). Russia —Alexei Birkun (Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Emergency Medicine, Medical Academy named after S I Georgievsky, Russia); Anna Kaluzhenina (Volgograd State Medical University, Russia). Saudi Arabia —Abdullah Almotairi (King Fahad medical City (KFMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia); Zakeya Abdulbaqi Ali Bukhary (College of Medicine, Taibah University, Medina, Saudi Arabia); Jameela Edathodu (Al Faisal University, King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia); Amal Fathy (Pulmonary and respiratory critical care Medicine, Mansoura University Egypt, Affiliate at Taibah University, Saudi Arabia); Abdullah Mushira Abdulaziz Enani and Nazik Eltayeb Mohamed (Infectious Diseases Section, Medical Specialties Department, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia); Jawed Ulhadi Memon (Pulmonology Division, Department of Internal Medicine, King Fahad Hospital, Hofuf, Al Ahasa, 31982, Saudi Arabia). Serbia —Nada Bogdanović (Pulmonary department of KHC Dr Dragiša Mišović, Belgrade, Serbia); Branislava Milenkovic (Clinic for Pulmonary Diseases, Clinical Centre of Serbia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia); Dragica Pesut (University of Belgrade School of Medicine, Teaching Hospital of Pulmonology, Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia). Spain —Luis Borderìas, Respiratoy and Sleep Unit, Hospital San Jorge, Huesca, Spain); Noel Manuel Bordon Garcia (Barcelona Policlínic and Moises Broggi Hospital at sant Joan Despí, Spain); Hugo Cabello Alarcón, Sant Hospital Seu de Urgell, Catalonia, Spain); Catia Cilloniz and Antoni Torres (Department of Pneumology, Institut Clinic del Tórax, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona - Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), University of Barcelona, Ciber de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Spain); Vicens Diaz-Brito and Xavier Casas (Infectious diseases Unit and Pneumology Service, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu, Sant Boi, Barcelona, Spain); Alicia Encabo González (Hospital Complex of Pontevedra, Spain); Maria Luisa Fernández-Almira (Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Spain); Miguel Gallego (Department of Respiratory Medicine, Hospital de Sabadell, Institut Universitari Parc Taulí-UAB, Sabadell, Spain. CIBER de Enfermedades Respiratorias, CIBERES, Bunyola, Spain); Inmaculada Gaspar-GarcÍa (Department of Respiratory Medicine, Hospital Costa del Sol, Marbella, Málaga, Spain); Juan González del Castillo (Emergency Department, Hospital Universitario Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain); Patricia Javaloyes Victoria (Hospital General Universitario de Alicante, Alicante, Spain); Elena Laserna Martínez (Hospital Mollet, Barcelona, Spain); Rosa Malo de Molina (University Hospital Puerta de Hierro Majadahonda, Madrid); Pedro J Marcos (Servicio de Neumología, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña CHUAC, INIBIC, Sergas, Universidade de A Coruña, Spain); Rosario Menéndez (Pneumology Service, Universitary and Polytechnic Hospital La Fe, Valencia, Spain); Ana Pando-Sandoval (Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias. Area de Gestion Clinica de Pulmon. Servicio de Neumologia, Oviedo, Spain); Cristina Prat Aymerich, Alicia Lacoma del la Torre, and Ignasi García-Olivé (Microbiology Department and Pneumology Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Institut d'Investigació Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain); Jordi Rello and Silvia Moyano (Critical Care Department, Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain); Francisco Sanz (Servicio de Neumología, Consorci Hospital General Universitari de Valencia, Valencia, Spain); Oriol Sibila and Ana Rodrigo-Troyano (Servei de Pneumologia, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, IIB-Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain); Jordi Solé-Violán (Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Dr Negrín, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain); Ane Uranga (Pulmology Department, Hospital of Galdakao-Usansolo, Spain); Job FM van Boven (Hospital Universitari Son Espases, Palma de Mallorca, Spain); Ester Vendrell Torra and Jordi Almirall Pujol (Intensive Care Medicine, Hospital de Mataró, Spain). South Africa —Charles Feldman (Division of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa). South Korea—Ho Kee Yum (Inje Univ. Seoul Paik Hospital, South Korea). Togo —Arnauld Attannon Fiogbe (Pulmonology and Infectious Diseases Service/University hospital of Sylvanus Olympio, Lomé, Togo). Tunisia —Ferdaous Yangui (Department of Pneumology, Hospital of Internal Forces Security (I.F.S), Marsa, Tunis, Tunisia). Turkey —Semra Bilaceroglu (Izmir Dr Suat Seren Training and Research Hospital for Thoracic Medicine and Surgery, Izmir, Turkey); Levent Dalar (Pulmonary Medicine, Istanbul Bilim University, Istanbul, Turkey); Ufuk Yilmaz (Suat Seren Chest Disease and Surgery Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey). Ukraine —Artemii Bogomolov (Vinnitsa National Pirogov Memorial Medical University, Vinnitsa regional antituberculosis hospital, Vinnitsa, Ukraine). United Arab Emirates —Naheed Elahi (Dubai Hospital, UAE.); UK —Devesh J Dhasmana (Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, NHS Fife, UK); Rhiannon Ions, Julie Skeemer, and Gerrit Woltmann (University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and University of Leicester, Leicester, UK); Carole Hancock (Royal Respiratory Research Team, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, UK); Adam T Hill (Royal Infirmary and University of Edinburgh, UK); Banu Rudran (The Royal London Hospital, Barts Health Trust, London, UK); Silvia Ruiz-Buitrago and Marion Campbell (Hairmyres Hospital, Eaglesham Road, East Kilbride, UK); Paul Whitaker (Department of Respiratory Medicine, St James's Hospital, Leeds, UK). USA —Karen S Allen (University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, OK, USA); Veronica Brito (Texas A&M Health Science Center, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Baylor Scott & White Health, TX, USA); Jessica Dietz (Fargo VA Health Care System, Fargo, ND, USA); Claire E Dysart and Susan M Kellie (Clement J Zablocki VA Medical Center, Milwaukee, WI, USA, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Raymond G Murphy VA Medical Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA); Ricardo A Franco-Sadud and Garnet Meier (Division of Hospital Medicine, Cook County Hospital, Chicago, MI, USA); Mina Gaga (7th Resp Med Dept and Asthma Center, Athens Chest Hospital, USA); Thomas L Holland and Stephen P Bergin (Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center and School of Medicine, Duke Clinical Research Institute, NC, USA); Fayez Kheir (Department Pulmonary Diseases, Critical Care & Environmental Medicine, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA); Mark Landmeier (Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA); Manuel Lois (John Peter Smith Hospital, Fort Worth, TX, USA); Girish B Nair (Interstitial Lung Disease Program and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, SUNY Stony Brook Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, NY, USA); Hemali Patel (Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Hospital Medicine Group, University of Colorado, USA); Katherine Reyes (Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, IL, USA); William Rodriguez-Cintron (Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine VA Caribbean Healthcare System, USA); Shigeki Saito (Tulane University, New Orleans, USA); Nilam J Soni, Julio Noda, Cecilia I Hinojosa, Stephanie M Levine, Luis F Angel, and Antonio Anzueto (Divisions of Hospital Medicine & Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA); K Scott Whitlow, John Hipskind, and Kunal Sukhija (Kaweah Delta Health Care District, Department of Emergency Medicine, Visalia, CA, USA); Richard G. Wunderink and Ray D Shah (Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA). Zambia —Kondwelani John Mateyo (Department of Internal Medicine, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia). Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests. Acknowledgments MIR's time is partially protected by award number K23HL096054 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute or the National Institutes of Health nor the Department of Veterans Affairs. We would like to thank the Asociación Latinoamerican de Tórax, European Respiratory Society, World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine, and American College of Chest Physicians for their support of this project.
Research Areas and Centers
- Academic Focus: Center for Infection and Inflammation Research (ZIEL)
