Q & A

Shazil has posted a question: Salam..I would like to know about the dosing of Augmentin. Normal doses which are available in the market are 375mg, 625mg and 1g. Do we take into consideration the severity of the infection or patient body weight when prescribing these drugs ie. 1g for people who has weight more than 75kg.
Thanks.

Answer:

Wassalam.

As a general rule of thumb, we take the body weight as a guideline when presecribing Augmentin. We apply the adult’s dosing guideline for patients (including children) if they weigh 40kg or more and the childrens’ dosing guideline for patients’ weighing 40kg and below. So the cutoff body weight that determines the dosing (adult or child) is 40kg.

Only after determining this criteria, do we look at the severity of the diseases under each category (adult or children).Another factor that we look into is the patients underlying medical conditions such as renal(kidney) compromised or hepatically (liver) impaired patients, where we need to adjust the augmentin dosage.

Here’s a general guideline for Augmentin dosing:

Dosing:

Neonates and infants (less than 3months) the dosage of Augmentin is 30 mg/kg/day divided every 12 hours, based on the amoxicillin component.

Children more than 3 months and less than 40 kg:

Severe infections
Otitis media: 90 mg/kg/day twice a day for 10 days

Lower respiratory tract infections, severe infections, sinusitis: 45 mg/kg/day twice daily or 40 mg/kg/day three times a day

Less severe infections: 25 mg/kg/day divided twice a day or 20 mg/kg/day three times a day

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Children >40 kg and Adults: 250-500 mg every 8 hours or 875 mg twice a day

For more severe infections and infections of the respiratory tract, the dose should be one 875-mg tablet of AUGMENTIN twice a day or one 500-mg tablet of AUGMENTIN three times a day