Principles of Effective Antibiotic Therapy

Lecture Handout — Slides 1–62

1 Introduction: Antibiotics — The Medical Miracle

1.1 Medicine in the Pre-Antibiotic Era

Prior to the availability of antibiotics, medicine was largely a process of prognostication rather than intervention. Physicians could predict the course of infectious diseases but had little ability to alter outcomes. Treatments were rudimentary and often ineffective — prescriptions frequently consisted of alcohol-based preparations such as spiritus frumenti (whiskey) or high-proof herbal tonics like Jamaican ginger (90% alcohol).