Last Updated on January 7, 2025 by Analgesia team
Community-Acquired Meaning In Medical
Community-acquired means something that originated or was acquired in the general population, rather than in a hospital. For example, community-acquired pneumonia is an infection that originated in the community, not in a hospital.
Viruses or bacteria usually cause community-acquired infections, which can affect healthy individuals or individuals with suppressed immunity. Most community-acquired infections are mild and are managed by general practitioners.
Some examples of community-acquired infections include:
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Community-acquired pneumonia
Symptoms include shortness of breath, coughing, heavy sputum, fever and chills, and chest pain. Most people with community-acquired pneumonia recover, but pneumonia can be fatal, most often in infants and in older adults.
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Walking pneumoniaA common subtype of community-acquired pneumonia that is typically caused by a difficult-to-detect bacterium called Mycoplasma pneumoniae