[Rational use of antibiotics is the basis of their effectiveness and safety].

Many-year studies on the use of antibiotics in the general medical practice are summarized in the paper. The present trends in further improvement of the rational use of antibiotics are presented. It is shown that the present rational and safe antibiotic therapy is determined by 3 main factors: (1) choice of the drug with due regard for its pharmacological properties and spectrum, (2) isolation, identification and determination of the bacterial flora sensitivity to the antibiotic, (3) revealing or prevention of high sensitivity of the patients to the antibiotics chosen.