Pneumonia, aspiration pneumonia, acute lung infection, and acute respiratory distress syndrome in Japanese patients

With an increase in the number of elderly individuals in the Japanese population, the number of patients with pneumonia is also increasing in Japan. Pneumonia is an important and common cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) as well as sepsis. Because the type of causative agent and the presence of the drug-resistant bacterial strains vary with the surrounding environment of the patients, appropriate treatment with antibiotics is necessary. In some cases, the aspiration should be taken into consideratioa Timely diagnosis of ARDS and exclusion of risk factors will help improve the outcome of patients with ARDS.