Question

The medical assistant is asked to administer one oral dose of Azithromycin to a child. The dose to be administered is 10 milligrams per kilogram. The child's weight is 44 pounds. The Azithromycin suspension vial available is labeled 500 milligrams per 5 milliliters. What amount of the antibiotic suspension should you prepare for the child?

A. 2 ml
B. 3 ml
C. 1.5 ml
D. 1 ml

Answer 1

To prepare the Azithromycin suspension for the child, convert the child's weight to kilograms, calculate the total dose, and set up a proportion to find the amount of suspension needed. The correct amount to prepare is 2 mL.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the amount of Azithromycin suspension to prepare for the child, we need to first convert the child's weight from pounds to kilograms. There are approximately 2.20462 pounds in a kilogram, so the child's weight in kilograms is 44/2.20462 = 19.958 kilograms (rounded to three decimal places).

The dose to be administered is 10 milligrams per kilogram, so the total dose for the child is 19.958 kg * 10 mg/kg = 199.58 mg. The Azithromycin suspension vial is labeled 500 milligrams per 5 milliliters. To find the amount of suspension needed, we can set up a proportion: 500 mg / 5 mL = 199.58 mg / x mL. Solving for x, we get: x = (199.58 mg * 5 mL) / 500 mg = 1.9958 mL. Therefore, you should prepare 2 mL of the antibiotic suspension for the child.