The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE, 2022) recommends self care for most women with uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI), however, antibiotics are recommended in children under 16 years old with a UTI.
For a 10 year old child, NICE recommends the antibiotic trimethoprim, because resistance levels of trimethoprim are low if there has been no previous course in the last 3 months. NB children under 5 years with fever should be assessed and managed in accordance with the NICE guideline on fever in under 5s.
You are intending to prescribe trimethoprim for a 10-year-old child weighing 30 kg. The recommended dose of trimethoprim for a child of this age is 4 mg/kg twice daily for 3 days.
QUESTION 1
What dose of trimethoprim should be prescribed?
The child requires a liquid medicine. Trimethoprim oral suspension is available in the strength 50 mg/5 ml.
QUESTION 2
How many mls should be taken for each dose?
QUESTION 3
What volume of oral suspension is required for this prescription in total?
48 hours later, the child's symptoms have worsened, despite taking all the doses of trimethoprim correctly. At the initial presentation, a sample was taken for Culture and Sensitivity and it has now been decided that the second line choice is to be cefalexin, based on NICE (2022).
The recommended dose of cefalexin for a 10-year-old child is 12.5 mg/kg twice daily for 3 days.
QUESTION 4
What dose of cefalexin should you prescribe for the child?
Cefalexin oral suspension is available in the strength 250 mg/5ml.
QUESTION 5
How many mls should be taken for each dose?
QUESTION 6
What volume of oral suspension is required for this prescription in total?