Respiratory tract infections and tuberculosis are among the leading reasons for seeking medical care. In this report the most recent advances in the field of clinical research and basic sciences of respiratory infections and tuberculosis are presented through the analysis of some of the best abstracts presented at the 20th European Respiratory Society Congress in Barcelona, Spain and their subsequent publications in major journals. The role of viruses in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations, the importance of new biomarkers in the management and risk assessment of lower respiratory tract infections, new modalities of treatment of respiratory infections as well as new tools for the diagnosis of latent and active tuberculosis in special subgroups of patients (children and immunocompromised individuals), and the new epidemiological threat of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis cases are discussed.