What is the place of fluoroquinolones in the treatment of community-acquired respiratory tract infections?
The newest (third generation) fluoroquinolones are potentially useful agents in the management of community-acquired respiratory tract infections. This is mainly due to their increased activity against Streptococcuspneumoniae, a pathogen poorly susceptible to the second-generation compounds, and playing a major role in upper and lower respiratory tract infections. Also, their spectrum includes the other main pathogens involved in those infections, comprising Haemophilus influenzae and intracellular agents, against which the newest fluoroquinolones exhibit a similar activity to that of the previous compounds. The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of the newest quinolones make them suitable for effective therapy of lower respiratory tract infections. However, careful attention should be paid to the dose and dosing regimen of each compound in clinical usage in order to select the most adapted drug. In clinical trials, the fluoroquinolones have been shown to be at least as eff
