ABSTRACT
Respiratory tract infection (RTI) is well-defined as any communicable illness of the lower or upper respiratory tract of a human. The causative agents include viruses and gram-positive and -negative bacteria. Upper RTIs comprise the common cold, pharyngitis or tonsillitis, laryngitis, acute otitis media, acute rhinitis, and acute rhinosinusitis. Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) include bronchiolitis, acute bronchitis, tracheitis, and pneumonia. Antibiotics are commonly prescribed to treat acute RTIs in children and adults in primary care. But the emerging antimicrobial resistance of respiratory bacterial pathogens (such as S. pneumoniae) has also augmented the challenge for appropriate administration of RTI in adults and children. An awareness of the cause of specific respiratory and epidemiology infections should be taken care to prevent the prevalence of RTIs in humans. The appropriate study of RTIs in relevant animal models also requires to develop balanced hypotheses and likewise to test these hypotheses relating to the pathogenesis. This chapter summarizes the pathogenesis and prevention of RTIs associated with potential bacterial pathogens in both the upper and lower respiratory tracts.
Keywords: lower respiratory tract, otitis media, pneumonia, tuberculosis, upper respiratory tract
