title: [Problems of pharmacotherapy of infections in the aged].
abstract: Infectious diseases play an important role in the elderly. Disease progression is often more severe, displaying a higher complication rate and causing increased mortality. Elderly patients suffer more frequently than younger under pneumonia, exacerbations of chronic bronchitis, urinary tract infections as well as skin and soft tissue infections. When starting empiric antibiotic therapy one should consider that the bacterial spectrum afflicting elderly patients may differ from that afflicting younger patients. In addition an increasing number of nosocomial and multiresistant pathogens is seen in elderly patients due to more frequent hospitalisation and living in nursing homes. Patient multimorbidity and multiple co-medications make awareness of important drug-interactions essential. The purpose of this article is to review the indications and side-effects of well-tried and newer antibiotics with respect to patients age. Especially the newer antibiotics Ertapenem, Linezolid, Quinupristin/Dalfopristin and Telithromycin are discussed in detail.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung für Lungen- und Infektionskrankheiten, Zentralklinik Emil von Behring, Akademisches Lehrkrankenhaus, Freien Universität Berlin. haloheck@zedat.fu-berlin.de
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuhnke
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lode
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D015897:Comorbidity; D004347:Drug Interactions; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents