Severe community-acquired Enterobacter pneumonia: a plea for greater awareness of the concept of health-care-associated pneumonia

Background: Patients with Enterobacter community-acquired pneumonia (EnCAP) were admitted to our intensive care unit (ICU). Our primary aim was to describe them as few data are available on EnCAP. A comparison with CAP due to common and typical bacteria was performed. Methods: Baseline clinical, biological and radiographic characteristics, criteria for health-care-associated pneumonia (HCAP) were compared between each case of EnCAP and thirty age-matched typical CAP cases. A univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine factors independently associated with ENCAP. Their outcome was also compared. Results: In comparison with CAP due to common bacteria, a lower leukocytosis and constant HCAP criteria were associated with EnCAP. Empiric antibiotic therapy was less effective in EnCAP (20%) than in typical CAP (97%) (p < 0.01). A delay in the initiation of appropriate antibiotic therapy (3.3 +/- 1.6 vs. 1.2 +/- 0.6 days; p < 0.01) and an increase in duration of mechanical ventilation (8.4 +/- 5.2 vs. 4.0 +/- 4.3 days; p = 0.01) and ICU stay were observed in EnCAP patients. Conclusions: EnCAP is a severe infection which is more consistent with HCAP than with typical CAP. This retrospectively suggests that the application of HCAP guidelines should have improved EnCAP management.