Template:ICD10 Secondary infections of aspiration

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Determining if an aspiration becomes secondarily infected

Here are some thoughts about how to figure out whether or not an aspiration event becomes secondarily infected:

The usual time course after the aspiration, of development of the lung inflammation and signs related to it, is typically hours to a day or more. And it is considered distinctly RARE for an actual infection due to an aspiration event to develop that quickly.

The usual time course of starting to see movement towards resolution of the signs of lung inflammation from noninfected aspiration pneumonitis, in the absence of secondary infection, is a few days. So, when a person who aspirates and is appropriately NOT given antibiotics starts to improve substantially within a few days, we take that as clinical confirmation that it wasn't infected.

On the other hand, the most clearcut kind of clinical evidence for secondary infection of a noninfectious aspiration pneumonitis is when the person starts to get better, and then after several days starts to get worse again.

The hardest situation in which to determine if a secondary infection has occurred, and whether to start antibiotics, is when the signs of lung inflammation (infiltrate, fever, leukocytosis) doesn't improves and remains bad or worsens.