Clinical microbiology and infectious diseases - 11th European Congress. 1-4 April 2001, Istanbul, Turkey.

This report covers the four different sessions of the congress. All sessions included the presentation of papers about treatment of respiratory tract infections (RTIs). RTIs account for 25% of all the community-acquired infections and are the second most frequent among nosocomial infections after urinary tract infections. Recent years have witnessed a great increase in resistance to antibiotics among pathogens causing RTIs. These changes have rendered several 'classical' antibiotics less effective in this indication. The drug industry has collectively made a great effort to develop new antibiotics to overcome this resistance. In the sessions described below, four different antibiotics were reviewed for their efficacy in RTIs. A relatively 'older' group comprising a beta-lactam and beta-lactamase-inhibitor combination was presented for use both in community and hospital settings. Two different quinolone antibiotics, levofloxacin (Daiichi Seiyaku) and moxifloxacin (Bayer), were the focus of another two sessions. In an era of penicillin resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae and increasing importance of atypical organisms causing RTIs, the new fluoroquinolone derivatives have become critical agents. These new compounds are proving capable not only of eradicating troublesome pathogens, but also achieving this faster than any other drug. Finally, a new class of antibiotics, namely ketolides, was presented as a novel addition to the macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin group. In vitro experiments and clinical experiments with telithromycin (Aventis Pharma), the first ketolide antimicrobial, were reported. All these presentations demonstrated telithromycin's potent activity against key respiratory pathogens, including resistant strains.