Macrolides as first line therapy in adult lower respiratory tract infections: pros and cons.
Certain guidelines exist to facilitate the decision as to which patients with lower respiratory tract infections require antibiotics. The decision as to which antibiotic to use must depend on a detailed knowledge of the disease and the patient's condition. Recent recommendations recognize four categories of patients with community-acquired pneumonia and adopt somewhat different treatment strategies for each. In industrialized countries, macrolides are regarded as either first- or second-choice therapy for community-acquired pneumonias of all grades of severity.
Rubinstein
Ethan
E
Infections Diseases Unit, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, School of Medicine, Tel-Hashomer, 52621, Israel.
Levy
Itzhak
I