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Article: Aspiration Pneumonia Epidemic Hits Elderly.
- Article from:
- Family Practice News
- Article date:
- November 1, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 International Medical News Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SAN FRANCISCO -- An "epidemic" of aspiration pneumonia hit the U.S. elderly during the mid-1990s.
The reason for the approximately 75% increase in cases during 1991-1996 has not been established.
Physicians should be aware of the situation, however, because aspiration pneumonia kills more than 20% of patients over 65 years old who develop the condition, Dr. William B. Baine said in a poster at the annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology.
Dr. Baine analyzed the incidence of aspiration pneumonia--defined as pneumonitis caused by inhalation of food or vomitus--in a ...