INCIDENCE OF BACTERIAL RESPIRATORY PATHOGENS AND THEIR SUSCEPTIBILITYTO COMMON ANTIBACTERIAL AGENTS

Although most respiratory tract infections are caused by viruses, bact erial pathogens are responsible for higher morbidity and mortality. Be cause virtually nothing is known about the etiology of bacterial respi ratory pathogens in Saudi Arabia, this study examined the incidence of these organisms in 5426 patients over a 1-year period. Of the bacteri al pathogens isolated from 904 patients, the most common organism was Hemophilus influenzae (31%), followed by pneumococci (22%), Pseudomona s aeruginosa (16%), and others (31%). Because the first two organisms accounted for more than 50% of isolates, their susceptibility to commo nly used antibiotics was also reviewed. The results are presented here .