Formula to Help Select Rational Antimicrobial Therapy: A Comparision for Community-Acquired Pneumonia

The vast majority of antimicrobial agents are prescribed empirically — therapy that is initiated without knowledge of the specific infecting pathogen, but generally based on several important variables. These include site and type of infection, presenting symptoms, patient history and local antimicrobial resistance patterns. Additional reasons for empiric prescription include relieving symptoms, preventing disease progression, and limited access to diagnostic services. Factors such as sensitivity versus resistance, intravenous versus oral administration, anatomical target sites, and costs have also become important parameters for selecting antimicrobial therapy and for the development of formularies. We recently published a Formula to Help Select Rational Antimicrobial Therapy (FRAT) and applied it to communityand hospital-acquired urinary tract infections. The formula (Table 1) has also been used to assess Formula to Help Select Rational Antimicrobial Therapy: A Comparision for Community-Acquired Pneumonia