ANTIBIOTIC THERAPY IN INFECTIONS OF THE RESPIRATORY TRACT

Abstract

THE INTENTION of this paper is to appraise the value of antibiotic treatment in chronic bronchial infections. Patients with bronchial asthma and pulmonary emphysema frequently suffer from associated chronic bronchitis. In other cases of chronic bronchitis bronchospasm of slight to moderate extent is often present. Similarly, patients with bronchiectasis at times manifest bronchospasm and variable degrees of pulmonary emphysema. The results of treatment of these clinical entities with penicillin, especially by inhalation, and with aureomycin, terramycin, and chloramphenicol (chloromycetin®) will be presented, as well as a preliminary statement of the use of the diethylaminoethyl ester of penicillin. The use of antibiotic drugs in bronchiectasis has been restricted in some clinics to the treatment of febrile episodes and the preparation of these patients for surgery.¹Although the management of chronic infection in bronchopulmonary disease poses complex problems, the use of the antibiotic agents and procedures which are now available results in