1.2 Study population
The patients with acute upper respiratory tract infection
(AURTI) or community-acquired
pneumonia (CAP) were enrolled with the RPSS network every month. AURTI
patients were included if they presented with fever and/ or respiratory
symptoms, e.g., cough, sputum production, and sore throat. Pneumonia
patients were included if they had evidence of CAP according to
Guidelines of Diagnosis and Treatment for Community-Acquired Pneumonia
among Adults in China (released in 2013 by Chinese Thoracic Society,
Chinese Medicine Association)[13-15], and further
classified as severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) and non-severe
community-acquired pneumonia (NSCAP) based on illness severity according
to the guidelines described previously[16].