The choice of empirical antibacterial therapy varies significantly based on patient characteristics. Important considerations include (but are not limited to): the most likely source(s) of infection, recent antibiotics (last 3 months), recent healthcare exposure (e.g., hospitalization), underlying chronic disease, local pathogens and drug resistance. Patients with recent antibiotic exposure have an elevated incidence of high-risk infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococ-cus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, whereas those with recent healthcare exposure have increased likelihood of being colonized with ESBL-producing bacteria. Importantly, the most common pathogens in SS/SS among hospitalized patients in the descending order are Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, and mixed bacterial microorganisms.In all cases, antibacterial therapy should be guided by the most likely sources of infection along with local antibiograms.