Prescribing for paediatric patients
Calculating drug doses 2
A 5 year old child weighing 20Kg requires intravenous acyclovir for herpes zoster infection. Their height is not readily available. Use the BNF-C to calculate an appropriate dose.
Activity
Using the tables at the back of the BNF-C, a 20Kg child has a body surface area of 0.79m². A dose of 250mg/m² every 8 hours is recommended = 197.5mg. For practical purposes this should be rounded to 200mg every 8 hours