The use of neutrophils, macrophages and organ cultures to assess the penetration of human cells by antimicrobials

Abstract

The knowledgeable physician, choosing an antimicrobial to aid in the management of an infectious disease, does not simply pick a broad-spectrum antimicrobial, which may not be the best antimicrobial for the infecting microorganism, but rather goes through a three-step thought process wherein 1) he or she diagnoses the disease in the patient; and 2) on the basis of historical, physical and laboratory information, predicts the most likely organism to be causing the disease in this particular patient and then; 3) chooses the best antimicrobial for the most likely organism or organisms. Once the list of most likely organisms has been generated from appropriate clinical and laboratory data, the choice of the best antimicrobial is systematically made on the basis of the factors listed in Table 1.