Multi-Drug Therapy

-2 or more drugs may be used simultaneously to kill all the

pathogens and to prevent resistant mutant pathogens from
emerging

-for example, the multi-drug resistant strains of

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, about 4 drugs are routinely
prescribed, and as many as 12 drugs may be required for
especially resistant strains

Synergism
- in general, may be defined as two or more agents working
together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the agents
independently
-the word synergy or synergism comes from two Greek
words: erg meaning "to work", and syn meaning "together";
hence, synergism is a "working together"

Antagonism
-2 drugs are prescribed that actually work against each other

Antifungal Agents
- medication used to treat fungal infections such as athlete's
foot, ringworm, candidiasis (thrush), serious systemic infections
such as cryptococcal meningitis, and others
-such drugs are usually obtained by a doctor's prescription or
purchased over-the-counter

Antiprotozoal Agents
-usually quite toxic to the host work by interfering with DNA
and RNA synthesis

-interfering with protozoal metabolism

Antiviral Agents
- a class of medication used specifically for treating viral
infections
- one class of antimicrobials, a larger group which also
includes antibiotic, antifungal and antiparasitic drugs. They are
relatively harmless to the host, and therefore can be used to treat
infections

Drug Resistance
- the reduction in effectiveness of a drug in curing a disease
or improving a patient's symptoms. When the drug is not
intended to kill or inhibit a pathogen, then the term is equivalent
to dosage failure or drug tolerance
- Pathogens are said to be drug-resistant when drugs
meant to neutralize them have reduced effect. When an organism
is resistant to more than one drug, it is said to be multidrug
resistant

Drug resistance occurs in several classes of pathogens:

• bacteria -- antibiotic resistance
• endoparasites
• viruses -- resistance to antiviral drugs
• fungi
• cancer cells