Etiology of community acquired pneumonia among adult patients requiring hospitalization in Taiwan.

Background: There has not been a comprehensive multi-center study investigating the microbial profile of community acquired pneumonia (CAP) in Taiwan.

Methods: A prospective study of adult CAP patients requiring hospitalization between December 2001 and April 2002 was carried out in 13 hospitals in Taiwan. Etiology was determined based on laboratory data from blood and sputum cultures plus serology from paired serum and urine antigen detection tests.

High prevalence of phagocytic-resistant capsular serotypes of Klebsiella pneumoniae in liver abscess.

To better understand the role of capsular polysaccharide (CPS) K1 or K2 in Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess as well as the development of metastasis to eye, neutrophil phagocytosis of 70 CPS isolates including K1 (n = 23)/K2 (n = 10), non-K1/K2 (n = 37) was evaluated by flow cytometry, fluorescence imaging, and electron microscopy. K1/K2 isolates were significantly more resistant to phagocytosis (P < 0.0001) than non-K1/K2 isolates and displayed increased resistance to intracellular killing.

Extended-spectrum cephalosporin compared to cefazolin for treatment of Klebsiella pneumoniae-caused liver abscess.

From January 1995 to May 2000, a total of 107 adults with liver abscess due to Klebsiella pneumoniae admitted at a large medical center in northern Taiwan were reviewed. Patients were considered to have received cefazolin or an extended-spectrum cephalosporin if they received at least 3 days of that antibiotic within the first 5 days of hospitalization. Fifty-nine (55.

Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess in Taiwan is not caused by a clonal spread strain.

In Taiwan, the incidence of pyogenic liver abscess caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae has been increasing over the past 2 decades. Although most of the patients have no concurrent biliary tract disease, diabetes mellitus is thought to be an important risk factor for the disease. The incidence of metastatic infections in K.