Pulmonary Infection

Edited by Amer Amal, ISBN 978-953-51-0286-1, Hard cover, 128 pages, Publisher: InTech, Published: March 14, 2012 under CC BY 3.0 license, in subject Pulmonology

Pulmonary infections are notorious in causing considerable morbidity and mortality. Caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi, respiratory infections require distinct knowledge of recent advances in pathogenesis. Progress in the understanding of immunopathogenesis of Acinetobacter baumannii infection will explain how an atypical organism establishes infection. The chapter regarding pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial infections in the State of Para depicts a unique study in an endemic region for tuberculosis in North of Brazil. The diagnosis and treatment of latent tuberculosis is a formidable challenge. Thus, new developments in diagnosis and treatment of latent tuberculosis are included in this book. Challenging in their diagnosis, nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary diseases require special education for management. The problems of respiratory infections in the immunocompromised host are increasing in numbers and in resilience to treatment. Therefore, the chapter describing the host immune responses against pulmonary fungal pathogens comes as a necessary section in this book. The insight brought forth from this book can be valuable for both clinicians and scientists.