[Community-acquired pneumonia: pathogens and course in patients admitted to a general hospital].

Objective: To determine prognostic factors and the significance of (non-invasive) microbiological tests for the clinical course of patients admitted to one general hospital with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Design: Prospective observational study.

Method: Patients admitted to one location of a general hospital with symptoms of CAP during the period January 1998-December 1999 were included.