Anti-infective drugs in the prevention and treatment of sepsis syndrome.

Anti-infective drugs may be used to prevent or treat infectious diseases. Preventing serious infections using aerosolized drugs, selective decontamination of the intestinal tract, or devices impregnated with anti-infective materials generally has been unsuccessful. Treatment of serious infections arising from the community or hospital setting requires knowledge of the most likely pathogens responsible for the illness, the antimicrobial susceptibility of those organisms, and the proper dosing of antimicrobial therapy.