Lower respiratory tract infections account for over 50 million deaths each year globally. They exert a growing clinical and financial burden on healthcare systems and employers. The increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among usual bacterial pathogens over the past 10 years further drives this burden of disease. Typically, species such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis exhibit differing, but still growing, resistance phenotypes. The impact of resistance has only recently been fully appreciated, with clinical failures to many first-line agents being reported, as well as eminent groups acknowledging the financial impact of bacterial resistance. As resistance continues to emerge, it is recognized that a successful clinical outcome depends upon several factors including the patient, selection of appropriate drug and local epidemiology of the likely pathogen. Treatment failures will lead to repeat physician visits, extra diagnostic and laboratory tests, f...