Antibiotic administration in the critically ill - in need of intensive care!

Mervyn Mer; Jeffrey Lipman

doi:10.7196/SAMJ.9665

Editorial

Antibiotic administration in the critically ill - in need of intensive care!

Mervyn Mer, Jeffrey Lipman

Abstract

A better understanding of antibiotic dosing in the critically ill will go a long way to enhancing the longevity of what is becoming an increasingly scarce resource. There are no new antibiotic classes nearing clinical production. We believe that correct antibiotic dosing will limit the increasing burden of antimicrobial resistance, minimise therapeutic failures and, most importantly, improve patient outcomes.

Authors' affiliations

Mervyn Mer, Divisions of Critical Care and Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Jeffrey Lipman, Director, Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia, and Professor and Head of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia