Antibiotic resistance and therapeutic options in lower respiratory tract infections.
The emergence of some strains of common pathogens of community acquired pneumonia resistant to one or more of the frequently used antimicrobials is becoming widespread. The clinical significance and implications of these resistance patterns are, however, unclear. Studies of the clinical progress of patients with pneumonia or bacteraemia infected with penicillin-resistant organisms show that patients frequently recover when treated with penicillins or cephalosporins. Beta-Lactam drugs and macrolides are still associated with clinical success in lower respiratory tract infections despite increasing resistance to these agents in vitro. Therefore, when making therapeutic choices, in vitro resistance data cannot always be used to predict clinical outcome. Infections caused by resistant organisms can usually be successfully treated using traditional therapeutic approaches.
Bouza
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Enfermedades Infecciosas-HIV, Hospital G.U. Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain. ebouza@microb.net
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006801:Humans; D007769:Lactams; D018942:Macrolides; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000187:drug effects
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D007769:Lactams; D018942:Macrolides