2017 NHLBI Pneumonia Working Group: Advancing Pneumonia Research in Heart, Lung, and Blood Diseases

The economic burden of pneumonia is consistently the first or second greatest worldwide, with costs in the U.S. alone amounting to tens of billions of dollars per year.  Although a host-pathogen interaction underlies pneumonia, the susceptibility to, progression of, and outcomes from pneumonia are driven by characteristics of the host.  This working group will focus on identifying the gaps that will lead to improved understanding of the host factors influencing pneumonia that will help guide new ways to lower pneumonia risk, prevent or cure acute lower respiratory infections, and improve heart, lung, and blood health.  Much focus has been given to the pathogens causing pneumonia, so there is a tremendous need for research from the perspective of the host.  This includes the host response to respiratory microbes in terms of pathogenesis, host susceptibility to lung infections in terms of risk factors (with focus on patients with chronic lung, heart and blood disorders), personalized approach on the management and treatment of pneumonia (biomarkers, diagnostics), the extrapulmonary and systemic effects of pneumonia, and the long-term host consequences of pneumonia.