Abstract
While many studies have been completed comparing antibiotics or antibiotic combinations in the treatment of specific infections, few studies have focussed on the necessary duration of treatment. If antibiotics are generally safe, is it necessary to be concerned about the duration of antibiotic therapy as long as the drugs are continued long enough? The remainder of this paper assumes that increased antibiotic use can result in an increase in the number and frequency of resistant bacteria in the hospital environment and an increased risk that the individual patient will acquire new nosocomial «suprainfections» caused by resistant organisms. In addition, the longer that any medication is continued, the greater the risk that a patient will experience an allergic or toxic reaction to the drug. With all drugs less is better if the therapeutic aim has been achieved.
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