A missed opportunity-a near disaster.

Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common medical problem. Over 1.5 million patients annually will be diagnosed with CAP and treated with empiric therapy initially. The vast majority of patients will improve with a single course broad spectrum antimicrobial agent. Rarely a patient will not improve and some may progress on this regimen. Giving a second course of broad spectrum antimicrobial agent is not warranted until further evaluation is performed to look for the unusual cause of CAP. Blastomycosis is a regionally common community acquired fungal infection. When potential exposure of the patient to an area of high endemicity is recognized appropriate diagnostic studies should be performed.