Time to Treat Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia with Steroids?

Guidelines for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) focus primarily on the choice of antibiotic therapy. However, the 2019 guidelines of the American Thoracic Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America for adult CAP was the first version to address the role of glucocorticoids as adjunct therapy. The guideline committee (which we cochaired) did not recommend the use of glucocorticoids for most patients with CAP,1 but it did endorse the use of glucocorticoids for adults with refractory septic shock that is resistant to fluid resuscitation and vasopressor support, consistent with the suggested use of these drugs in previously released . . .