Abstract: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a frequent and severe infection, and is considered the primary cause of death from infection, and the sixth most common cause of overall mortality in Western countries. Consequently, CAP represents one of the leading causes of infectious admissions to the intensive care unit (ICU).Indeed, the latest studies have reported that up to 10% of all patients hospitalised with CAP require ICU management. In specific subgroup of severely ill patients, the overall mortality rate remains unacceptably high despite improvement in critical care management. Furthermore, the medical burden of CAP is very high in terms of direct costs, associated morbidity and long-term disability.