Treatment recommendations for patients with common respiratory tract infections with variables indicative of treatment failure

Treatment with an appropriate antimicrobial agent significantly decreases the bacterial burden and reduces the risk of a patient progressing to a more severe infection. When evaluating the use of antibiotics, practitioners should consider such factors as the local resistance patterns of common respiratory pathogens, the likelihood of infection with a resistant organism, and the potential for treatment failure. Recent antibiotic use is a risk factor for treatment failure. For patients with risk factors predictive of treatment failure, beta-lactams (usually in combination with a beta-lactamase inhibitor or a macrolide) and fluoroquinolones are most commonly recommended.