Abstract
Acute respiratory tract infections are an extremely common and important source of morbidity and mortality. Despite advances in our understanding of microbial pathogens and the development of novel antimicrobial agents, acute respiratory tract infections continue to place an enormous burden on global health expenditure. Acute respiratory tract infections can be divided into infections that predominantly affect the upper respiratory tract above the vocal cords and those that affect the lower respiratory tract. The clinical features, causative pathogens, and therapies of common acute respiratory tract infections are detailed in this article.