Abstract

Appropriate antibiotic use require an accurate knowledge of the anti-microbial susceptibility of the drug to be given, sound clinical reasoning as to why the drug is being given, and whether it will reach the site of the pathogen in adequate concentrations without producing serious side effects. Physicians also should be aware of the potential for beneficial as well as harmful reactions when antibiotics are given either with other antimicrobials or with other drugs. The magnitude of this potential problem is obvious when one recalls that antibiotics are the drugs most widely prescribed by physicians, accounting for approximately 60% of hospital drug costs.