Calculations in excipient exposure during drug treatment: answers

For treating epilepsy of all forms, except typical absences, the recommended oral dose for children under 11 years old is initially 1-1.5mg/kg twice daily (Joint Formularies Committee, 2019). The licensed product available in the UK is a 15mg/5mL oral solution. What range of volumes could be administered to a 5kg child to provide doses in the appropriate starting range?

What volume should be specified on a prescription for our 5kg patient for the first 28 days of treatment if they are started on 1.5mg/kg per dose.

Given that Phenobarbital Elixir BP contains ethanol 38%v/v (eMC 2016) how much ethanol will our 5kg patient be consuming each day from the higher starting dose of phenobarbital calculated in 1) above?

Assuming our patient is commenced on the higher starting dose, scale up their alcohol exposure to estimate an equivalent weekly dose in terms of glasses of wine for a 70kg adult. A standard glass of 12% wine is around 2 units of alcohol.