Instilling good prescribing habits in young doctors is essential for the benefit of patients and to preserve the value of the antibiotic revolution that altered medical practice in the second half of the twentieth century. These concerns underlie the approach taken in the new edition of this successful book. The text provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the principles of antimicrobial chemotherapy as an aid to informed, rational prescribing. Care is taken to address all aspects of antimicrobial drug use, including those specific to developed and developing countries of the world. The authors are international experts with a long standing interest in the role of education as a means of promoting an understanding of the benefits and limitations of antimicrobial chemotherapy in physicians, surgeons and other health care workers. The book offers a structured approach to the subject in four themed sections, each of several chapters. A historical introduction is followed by a section outlining the basic properties of antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic and antiviral (including antiretroviral) drugs. The next section explains the various facets of antimicrobial drug resistance - which threatens to undermine the continued efficacy of antimicrobial agents - and effective ways of countering the threat. Therapeutic use is covered in two sections: one introduces readers to the general principles that inform the rational prescribing of antimicrobial drugs; the second deals with practicalities of the use of antimicrobial agents in specific clinical conditions. The book ends with a description of the ways in which drugs are developed and marketed. There are extensive recommendations for further reading.

Table of Contents

Historical Introduction; PART I: GENERAL PROPERTIES OF ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS; 1. Inhibitors of bacterial cell wall synthesis; 2. Inhibitors of bacterial protein synthesis; 3. Synthetic antibacterial agents and miscellaneous antibiotics; 4. Antifungal agents; 5. Antiprotozoal and anthelminthic agents; 6. Antiviral agents; 7. Antiretroviral agents; PART 2: RESISTANCE TO ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS; 8. The problem of resistance; 9. Mechanisms of acquired resistance; 10. Genetics of resistance; 11. Control of the spread of resistance; PART 3: GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF USAGE OF ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS; 12. Use of the laboratory; 13. General principles of the treatment of infection; 14. Pharmacokinetics; 15. Prescribing for children and the elderly; 16. Adverse reactions; 17. Chemoprophylaxis; 18. Guidelines, formularies and antimicrobial policies; PART 4: THERAPEUTIC USE OF ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS; 19. Respiratory tract infections; 20. Urinary infections; 21. Gastrointestinal infections; 22. Bacteraemia and endocarditis; 23. Skin and soft tissue infections; 24. Bone and joint infections; 25. Mycobacterial disease; 26. Infections of the central nervous system; 27. Viral infections; 28. Infection in immunocompromised patients including HIV/AIDS; 29. Sexually transmitted infections; 30. Parasitic diseases; 31. Topical use of antimicrobial agents; 32. Postscript: The development and marketing of antimicrobial drugs

Author Biography

David Greenwood is Emeritus Professor of Antimicrobial Science at the University of Nottingham Medical School, having been Professor for 16 years. He has written, edited and contributed to many books in the field of Antimicrobial Science. Peter Davey is current President of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Professor of Pharmoeconomics at the University of Dundee and Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases, Tayside University Hospitals. Professor Roger Finch has authored more than 300 papers covering the fields of antimicrobial chemotherapy, lower respiratory tract infections and the pathogenesis of staphylococcal disease. He is currently European Editor of Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases and was formerly Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Professor Mark Wilcox is Professor of Medical Microbiology at the University of Leeds, and is a Medical Microbiology Consultant. He is the Clinical Director of Pathology and the Director of Infection Prevention and Control for The Leeds Teaching Hospitals.