Improvement in clinical and economic outcomes with empiric antibiotic therapy covering atypical pathogens for community-acquired pneumonia patients: a multicenter cohort study.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of empiric antibiotic regimens covering atypical pathogens with respect to detailed clinical and economic outcomes in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Methods: A population-based, multicenter, retrospective cohort study was conducted from June 2010 to May 2011. Patients with a diagnosis of CAP were enrolled and categorized into two groups according to the initial antibiotic strategy used - covering or not covering atypical pathogens.