[Appropriate antibiotic use for the respiratory tract infections]

Early appropriate antibiotic treatment is vital since respiratory tract infection (RTI) is a potentially fatal disease. Therefore, the Japanese Respiratory Society (JRS) provided four guidelines for the management of RTI in adults. The basic policy and main purposes of the JRS guidelines include; 1) prevention of bacterial resistance and 2) effective and long-term use of medical resources. The JRS guidelines have recommended the exclusion of potential and broad spectrum antibiotics from the list of first-choice drugs for empirical treatment. In addition, the JRS guidelines have recommended short-term usage of antibiotics of an appropriate dose.