Antibiotic synergy with enterococcal endocarditis experienced a high relapse rate when penicillin G alone was used for treatment and a demonstrably lower relapse rate when streptomycin was combined with penicillin G to combat the infection. Since that time the research community has conducted numerous studies regarding the effects and possibilities of antibiotic combinations. Today, combination therapy is recognized as providing a broad spectrum of antibiotic coverage, effectively fighting polymicrobial infections, minimizing selection for antibiotic resistant strains, lowering dose toxicity where applicable, and in some cases providing synergistic activity. Antibiotic synergy is desirable in a clinic sense for several reasons. At the patient
Subtherapeutic antibiotic use in swine meat resulting in an assumed decrease in potential Foodborne illness risk. While the benefits of subtherapeutic antibiotic administration are well-documented, there is much concern and debate regarding the development of bacterial antibiotic resistance associated with their use. This is a specific case of the more general practice of antibiotic use in livestock. Currently, there appears to be a lack of reliable data associated with the amount of antibiotics used in livestock production. In 2001, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) published that 24.6 million pounds of antibiotics are used annually for growth promotant purposes. This, they claimed, represented 70% of