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In a new study, scientists found the lungs' own microbial community, or microbiome, appears to influence how the illness evolves, who responds well to treatment and whether a patient will recover successfully or continue to deteriorate. It also could improve understanding of the elusive disease, which claims tens of thousands of lives annually in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most people are familiar with the gut microbiome or skin microbiome but are surprised to learn the respiratory tract also has a microbiome," said Northwestern's Erica Hartmann, who led the study. Sequencing data like this will allow greater understanding of how patients get pneumonia, what microbes are actually causing pneumonia, and ultimately, what pathogen is causing the pneumonia in the patient I am caring for right now.""