[Therapy of chronic respiratory tract infections in children, including mucoviscidosis (author's transl)].
In respiratory tract infections in children a distinction must be made between frequently recurring infections and genuine chronic infections due to specific anatomical factors, immunological defects or congenital diseases such as mucoviscidosis. The most frequent pathogens are Haemophilus influenzae, pneumococci, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, enterococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella, S. aureus predominates in infants. The same applies for mucoviscidosis, in which P. aeruginosa is the second most frequent pathogen, occurring frequently after a primary infection with staphylococci. In order to avoid frequent relapses in mucoviscidosis patients, uninterrupted long-term treatment with an antibiotic which is effective against staphylococci is recommended, commencing the moment the diagnosis has been established. Suitable antibiotics are co-trimoxazole or oral cephalosporins (e. g. cephalexin, cephradine or cefaclor). Other respiratory tract infections should be treated according to the antibiogramme with a suitable antibiotic once the diagnosis has been confirmed.