Microbial colonisation or latency: a foot in the door to respiratory infections

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Chairs: G. B. Migliori (Tradate, Italy), M. Woodhead (Manchester, United Kingdom)
Aims: The decision when and how to treat respiratory infections is often difficult. This is particularly complicated when it is unclear whether an isolated microorganism is really the causative agent of a disease, or not.
This session provides a guideline for practicing physicians on how to deal with common clinical situations involving colonisation and latency, where decisions for treatment initiation of putative respiratory infections are particularly difficult.

Bronchial bacterial colonisation and impact on lung health M. Miravitlles (Barcelona, Spain)
What is latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI)? C. Lange (Borstel, Germany)
Colonisation vs. infection of the lungs with non-tuberculous mycobacteria: defining the decision to treat W. Yew (Hong Kong, China)