[Anaerobic flora of the respiratory tract (author's transl)]

The general outlines for the microbiological study of respiratory tract anaerobic flora are indicated. To day research tend to assign to these bacteria a significant role in sustaining some diseases of lungs pleural space and upper respiratory tract; anaerobes are therefore a subject of outstanding interest for clinical microbiologists. Difficult arise in isolation and identification of respiratory tract anaerobes owing to normal presence of anaerobic flora in the mouth; the difficult can be overcomed by avoiding contamination with normal flora (lung puncture for instance) or by quantitative evaluations of bacteria in sputum.