Treating Infectious Diseases and Allergies

• Anti-Infectives, Anti-Allergics and Anti-Parasitics
  The focus will be on medications that treat infectious processes, prevent and reverse allergic processes, and parasitic processes. Prescribing anti-infectives effectively requires a good grasp on which organisms cause a particular infectious process and, possibly, if it is gram-negative, gram-positive, or atypical in nature.
  Anti-allergics can be prescribed to stop or prevent future allergic occurrences. It is important to note that these medications can not reverse a response that has started, only stop its continuing effect. As with all medications, it is important to be aware of side effects, such as drowsiness, drug interactions, and the patient’s co-morbidities.
  It can be very stressful for a patient who has been infected with parasites, whether externally or internally. Treatment can also be a stressful process. As a prescriber, selecting the right medication regime and demonstrating a non-judgmental, considerate demeanor is important.

ASSIGNMENT
Discussion Prompt
Post your answers to the 5 questions corresponding to this week’s content on primary care medication management. Provide your responses and rationales. Support your rationales with high-level evidence.
Eric Johnson is a 21-year-old Caucasian male in his senior year of college. The patient has a history of seasonal allergies. He does not remember what his allergist told him to take for his allergies in the past. He wants to know what he can take. He presents to the clinic today with complaints of a stuffy nose, shortness of breath, a fever TMAX 102 at home, and a productive cough. He also notes that over the past few months, he has also noticed a watery discharge and burning when he urinates. He does admit to having unprotected intercourse last month. He undergoes rapid testing and a chest x-ray while in the clinic. His diagnoses are pneumonia, chlamydia, and seasonal allergies.
Clinic Vital Signs: BP 125/75, HR 116, Temp 102.5, O2 94%. He has no known drug allergies.
• Q1. What are the recommended medications to start this specific patient on? Please provide the drug class, generic & trade name, and the initial starting dose.
• Q2. Please discuss the mechanism of action of each of the drugs you listed.
• Q3. Please discuss the side effect profile of each medication you listed.
• Q4. Are there any interactions between any of the medications you prescribed?
• Q5. What other non-pharmacological interventions would be suggested?

REQUIREMENTS
• Length: A minimum of 250 words, not including references
• Citations: high-level scholarly reference in APA 7TH ED from within the last 5 years