Antibiotic use in the emergency department. IV: Single-dose therapy and parenteral-loading dose therapy.

There are a number of infectious diseases that can be treated efficaciously with a single dose of an antimicrobial agent. Other infections that can be treated with oral antibiotics on an outpatient basis may resolve more quickly if a parenteral loading dose is given in the emergency department (ED) prior to discharge. This article reviews the supporting literature and indications for single-dose and parenteral first-dose-loading antimicrobial therapy in the ED. This approach may be appropriate for such diverse infections as streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis, otitis media, urinary tract infections, chlamydial genital infections, vaginitis due to yeast, bacteria, or trichomoniasis, pneumonia, gonorrhea and pelvic inflammatory disease, and pediatric fever without a source.