Recommendations and guidelines for the treatment of pneumonia in Taiwan

Pneumonia is a leading cause of death worldwide, ranking third both globally and in Taiwan. This guideline was prepared by the 2017 Guidelines Recommendations for Evidence-based Antimicrobial agents use in Taiwan (GREAT) working group, formed under the auspices of the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan (IDST). A consensus meeting was held jointly by the IDST, Taiwan Society of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (TSPCCM), the Medical Foundation in Memory of Dr. Deh-Lin Cheng, the Foundation of Professor Wei-Chuan Hsieh for Infectious Diseases Research and Education and CY Lee's Research Foundation for Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Vaccines. The final guideline was endorsed by the IDST and TSPCCM. The major differences between this guideline and the 2007 version include the following: the use of GRADE methodology for the evaluation of available evidence whenever applicable, the specific inclusion of healthcare-associated pneumonia as a category due to the unique medical system in Taiwan and inclusion of recommendations for treatment of pediatric pneumonia. This guideline includes the epidemiology and recommendations of antimicrobial treatment of community-acquired pneumonia, hospital-acquired pneumonia, ventilator-associated pneumonia, healthcare-associated pneumonia in adults and pediatric pneumonia.