The clinical impact of macrolide resistance in pneumococcal respiratory infections

By the 1960s, several reports of bacteria with reduced susceptibility to an tibiotics were published. In recent years, the problem of antibiotic resist ance has magnified. In the treatment of respiratory tract infections, the d evelopment of resistance is of particular concern; 67% of antibiotic use in adults and 87% in children is for the treatment of such infections. Strept ococcus pneumoniae is the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia and is a frequently isolated bacterial species in patients with other resp iratory tract infections. Increasing levels of resistance may have importan t implications in the clinical setting. Physicians need to consider local s usceptibility data, in addition to the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic features of compounds, when selecting appropriate antibiotics for the treat ment of bacterial infections. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. and Internatio nal Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.