T hroughout history, the diagnosis and treatment of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) has been a ‘‘European cooperative effort’’. Since the experiments of R. Koch, many scientists have identified the role of infectious agents, including bacteria, in these conditions and different alternative treatments required to combat them. In 1888, E. de Freudenreich isolated bacterial secretions a...

The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of an antimicrobial prescribing protocol on clinical and economic outcome measures in hospitalized patients with community-acquired lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). The study was performed as a prospective controlled clinical trial within the medical wards at Antrim Area Hospital, Northern Ireland. Data were collected on all hospit...

that may be isolated from the mucous membranes lining these structures. Although the lower respiratory tract is in direct continuity with the secretions draining the upper respiratory tract, it is, by contrast, normally sterile.2` This remarkable difference is brought about by a series of coordinated mechanisms of the mammalian host which act to protect the tracheobronchial tree and pulmonary p...

background infections in critical care unit are high, and they are serious hospital problems. infections acquired during the hospital stay are generally called nosocomial infections, initially known as infections arising after 48 h of hospital admission. the mostfrequent nosocomial infections (urinary, respiratory, gastroenteritis and blood stream infection) were common in patients at hospital....

This before-after study aimed to evaluate the effect of two interventions on lowering the prescription of antibiotics in lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in Spain. General practitioners (GPs) registered all cases with LRTIs over 3-week periods before and after an intervention, in 2008 and 2009. Two types of intervention were considered: full-intervention group (FIG), consisting of disc...

INTRODUCTION Antibiotic prescribing rates vary substantially across regions in the USA. Whether these differences are driven primarily by a greater tendency to treat certain infections (i.e., overtreatment) in certain regions or differences in the tendency to diagnose certain infections (i.e., overdiagnosis) is poorly understood. METHODS We examined data from 2012 to 2013 using the National A...

Influenza virus tissue tropism defines the host cells and tissues that support viral replication and contributes to determining which regions of the respiratory tract are infected in humans. The location of influenza virus infection along the respiratory tract is a key determinant of virus pathogenicity and transmissibility, which are at the basis of influenza burdens in the human population. A...

Thirty preschool children presenting with recurrent respiratory infections and their unaffected siblings were observed prospectively for a year. The index children experienced more episodes of acute respiratory infection than their siblings. Respiratory viruses were the major cause of respiratory infections. The index children had lower respiratory tract disease, predominantly wheeze, during 34...

While influenza viruses are a common respiratory pathogen, sporadic reports of conjunctivitis following human infection demonstrates the ability of this virus to cause disease outside of the respiratory tract. The ocular surface represents both a potential site of virus replication and a portal of entry for establishment of a respiratory infection. However, the properties which govern ocular tr...