JEDDAH, 18 April 2007 — Saudi Arabia hosted a series of lectures on respiratory tract infections recently, which were aimed to focus on some of the most dangerous bacteria and viruses.
Lectures were presented in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam under the theme “At-risk pathogens for the management of respiratory tract infections with appropriate antibiotics.” Clinical microbiologists, internal medicine doctors and other medical practitioners from different areas of specializations from various hospitals participated.
Dr. Rafael Canton, a clinical microbiologist and an associate professor of clinical microbiology at Complutense University of Madrid, was the main speaker at the meetings chaired by Dr. Atef Shibl, professor of microbiology at King Saud University.
Two of the most serious respiratory tract infections are community-acquired pneumonia and acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis. “The most common pathogens found in patients with these infections are haemophilus influenzae and streptococcus pneumoniae. The administration of antibiotics at doses that result in concentrations exceeding the mutant prevention concentration at the site of infection is one strategy to prevent the development of drug-resistant pathogens,” Dr. Canton told the meeting held at Le Jeddah Meridien.
“Risk pathogens in respiratory tract infections are not limited only to organisms affecting ‘at-risk’ patients, but also pathogens with high risk to acquire resistance mechanism either by mutational events or recombination processes,” he added.
Identifying those dangerous bacteria, like in the case of pneumonia, Dr. Canton recommended the use of new antibiotics such as Levofloxacin, in line with the international protocols in this regard.
“There are survey studies on bacteria conducted in key areas of the Kingdom to determine the degree of bacteria resistance to antibiotics.” Dr. Shibl told the Sanofi-Aventis-sponsored meetings.