Current practices in antimicrobial dosing.

There has been minimal utilization of pharmacologic principles in the establishment of treatment programs for many infectious diseases. Drugs with markedly different half-lives and peak levels in serum have been prescribed at the same dosage intervals. No attempt has been made to determine if the efficacy of dosing programs in which levels in serum that exceed bactericidal levels are achieved but in which doses are administered infrequently is greater than or equal to that of current programs. Double-blind studies of therapeutic programs in which drugs with different pharmacokinetic properties are compared are the only means of eliminating the current confusion regarding dosing practices.