Current aspects of rational antibiotic use in paediatrics

Abstract

Antibiotics are frequently used in the therapy of numerous infectious diseases in children and neonates. The organism of a child cannot be considered a small-size adult organism. Children differ from adults in a physiological, psychological and developmental sense, so the use of drugs in this population, including antibiotics, requires special knowledge and skill. Therefore, from the aspect of safety, neonates and children comprise a particular, so-called risk or vulnerable, patient group. The basic characteristics of antibiotic use in children is the fact that the majority of antibiotics are not properly assessed for use in children, and even those that are properly assessed, are seldom prescribed in the adequate dose, interval and for adequate duration of therapy. Besides that, the selection of commercial preparations that can be used by children is very limited, which additionally complicates the therapy of paediatric patients. This text contains general and specific principles of adequate antibiotic use in paediatrics, with particular stress on pharmacokinetic and pharmacodinamic particularities, as well as on interactions, adverse effects and other characteristics of the most used antibiotics in paediatrics. Irrational antibiotic use and self-medication can lead to inefficiency of therapy, appearance of adverse effects and development of resistance to drugs, which has become an alarming issue in the recent years.