Pattern of aerobic sputum bacteriology in respiratory tract infections and pneumonias in adults.

A 4 year study on 93 pneumonias, 70 respiratory tract infec­tions and 20 normals for sputum bacteriology is reported. In controls, mainly Streptococcus pyogenes Staphylococcus and Branhamella catarrhalis were seen and frequently duplicated. In patients, there was a predominance of gram negative bacteria, mainly Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella species. There was some change in the individual frequency over these years, probably attributed to changes in the patterns of antibiotic usage in the general community.