Prevention
- More smoking cessation programmes should be encouraged.
- New and better vaccines need to be developed for high-risk groups.
Diagnosis and treatment
- The causative pathogens of pneumonia need to be determined, along with improved knowledge of the distribution and frequency of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in patients with pneumonia.
Research
- Clinical studies need to be initiated to determine the significance of antibiotic resistance.
- Further randomised controlled clinical trials comparing antibiotic therapies are required.
- The clinical applicability of new microbial diagnostic tools has to be evaluated