Lecture 14 - Antibiotics Flashcards
What are some common diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria?
- Bacteremia
- Pneumonia
- Meningitis
- Tuberculosis
- Epiglottitis
- Gonorrhoeae
What are some factors that influence development of infection?
- Systemic – disease and drugs
- Local – cleaning, closure of wound, contraction of vessels
- Virulence, number, host resistance
What determines the selection of antibiotic?
- Identification of organism
- Susceptibility of organism to a particular agent
- Site of infection
- Drug characteristics (lipid solubility, molecular weight, protein binding)
___ soluble antibiotics penetrate the lung tissue better
Lipid
What is an advantage and disadvantage to protein binding?
- Can increase half-life
- More protein binding means less efficient diffusion
When is the oral route chosen for antibiotics?
Infections that are mild and can be treated on an outpatient basis
When is the intravenous route chosen for antibiotics?
Most serious infections
What is an example of an antibiotic that is poorly absorbed by the intestine?
Vancomycin
What patient factors affect selection of antimicrobial agent?
- Immune system
- Renal function
- Hepatic function
- Poor perfusion
- Age
- Pregnancy/lactation
What is empiric therapy?
- Initiation of treatment before a firm diagnosis
- Usually use broad spectrum antibiotics
What is directed therapy?
Choose treatment based on knowledge of the organism that is the cause of the infection
What factors influence the choice of empiric therapy?
- Site of infection
- Immunocompromised
- Neutropenia
- Community vs. hospital acquired infection
- Age
What is neutropenia?
Low levels of neutrophils
When would antibiotics be used for suppression?
Px may have a chronic bacterial infection in a place of the body that is hard for antibiotics to penetrate, so would use antibiotics to prevent a systemic infection
What does bactericidal mean?
Kills bacteria at concentrations achievable in the patient
What does bacteriostatic mean?
Arrests the growth and replication of organisms, limiting the spread of infection
What is concentration-dependent killing?
Significant increase in the rate of bacterial killing w/ higher concentrations of the drug
When is concentration-dependent killing useful?
Rapid killing of infective pathogens
What are narrow spectrum antimicrobial agents?
Act on a limited group of microorganisms
What are extended spectrum antimicrobial agents?
Effective against one class of organisms as well as a significant number in a different class
What are broad spectrum antimicrobial agents?
Kill a range of antimicrobial species
When are antimicrobial combinations used?
- Unknown organism
- Polymicrobial infection
- Antibiotic synergy
- Patient/population factors
What are disadvantages to antimicrobial combinations?
- Superinfection
- Eradication of normal microflora
- Resistance
- Adverse effects (greater toxicity)
- Patient adherence to therapy
- Increased cost
Define antibiotic synergism
When the effect of 2 drugs in combination is greater than the sum of the effect when 2 drugs are administered independently