Antibiotic resistance in respiratory pathogens.

Antibiotic resistance in respiratory pathogens has dramatically increased during recent years. Resistance to penicillin and multiple antimicrobial agents in pneumococci and resistance to ampicillin in Moraxella catarrhalis and Haemophilus influenzae, as a result of betalactamase production, have become highly prevalent worldwide. The emergence of multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis in different countries is of concern, and has become a therapeutic challenge.