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# Chapter 12 Notes The major side effects of drugs fall into one of three categories: direct damage to tissues, toxicity, allergic reactions, and disruption of the body's microbiota. * **Damage** can be short-term and reversible, or permanent. * **Superinfection**: an infection occurring duri...

# Chapter 12 Notes The major side effects of drugs fall into one of three categories: direct damage to tissues, toxicity, allergic reactions, and disruption of the body's microbiota. * **Damage** can be short-term and reversible, or permanent. * **Superinfection**: an infection occurring during antimicrobial therapy, caused by an overgrowth of drug-resistant microorganisms. * **Kirby-Bauer technique**: an agar diffusion test that provides useful data on antimicrobial susceptibility. It's less effective for bacteria that are anaerobic, highly fastidious, or slow-growing. * **Tube dilution tests**: More sensitive and quantitative results can be obtained with this technique. * **Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)**: The smallest concentration of a drug that visibly inhibits growth. * **Useful for**: Determining the smallest effective dosage of a drug and providing a comparative index against other antimicrobials. When antimicrobial treatment fails, it's usually due to: * Inability of the drug to diffuse into the body compartment. * A few resistant cells in the culture that did not appear in the sensitivity test. * An infection caused by more than one pathogen (mixed), some of which are resistant to the drug. If treatment fails, alternative options include: * A different drug. * Combined therapy. * A different method of administration.