CPD module: Pneumonia

After completing this module, you should be more aware of:

• the basic physiological process and causes in pneumonia;

• different types of pneumonia;

• the most common pathogens involved – bacterial and viral;

• epidemiology of pneumonia in the UK;

• the differences in mortality risk due to different types of pneumonia;

• less common causes and types, atypical pathogens and ‘walking’ pneumonia;

• diagnosis in the community and hospital;

• urgent referral and red flag symptoms;

• scoring tools to indicate severity and level of risk of adverse outcomes of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP);

• principles of antibiotic treatment in CAP;

• first- and second-line antibiotic recommendations for treating CAP;

• preventative measures to reduce the risk of developing pneumonia.