Korean Journal of Infectious Diseases  2000;32(3):248-251

A Case of Severe Community-acquired Pneumonia due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a Healthy Adult.

Tae Yong KIM 1 ; Ee Seok KIM ; Nam Joong KIM ; Sun Hee LEE ; Myoung Don OH ; Kang Won CHOE

Affiliations

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Keywords

Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pneumonia; Community-acquired pneumonia; Sepsis

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia is characteristically found as a hospital-acquired infection in patients with underlying medical disorders. Few cases of community acquired P. aeruginosa pneumonia have been reported in individuals without underlying diseases. We report a case of P. aeruginosa pneumonia in a healthy 33-year-old man. He visited our hospital because of fever, non-productive cough, and pleuritic chest pain. On physical examination, the breathing sounds were decreased on the right lower lung field. The chest radiograph showed lobar consolidations with a cavity on the right upper lung field. Blood cultures and a pleural fluid culture yielded P. aeruginosa. Despite aggressive management including antibiotics and mechanical ventilation, he died 26 hours after the onset of symptoms. P. aeruginosa should be included in the differential diagnosis of severe community-acquired pneumonia.