Real-Life Math
It is up to a vet not only to diagnose an illness, but also to know
how to treat the illness.
Sometimes the treatment involves the prescription
of medication. The vet has to know what to prescribe and how much. Often,
animals will need medication to attack a bacterial or parasitic infection.
This
is something that veterinarian Don Rollins has seen plenty of.
Once,
he had a patient named Fido. Fido was looking bad. He was tired, vomiting
and had diarrhea. The diagnosis: Fido had picked up a parasite known as giardia.
The treatment: a drug called Albendazol.
"Good math skills are important
in your job as a vet, such as when you're prescribing medication," says
veterinarian Susan Quigly. Figuring out how much of a drug to prescribe means
doing a few calculations. Basically, it's based on the weight of the
dog relative to the strength of the drug.
Fido is a tiny little dog,
and weighs 18 pounds.
The dosage for Albendozol is
25 milligrams (mg) for every kilogram of the dog's weight.
(The
dosage information is in metric; you will have to be familiar with it to work
as a vet.)
Fido's owner has to feed the dog the
drug twice daily for 5 days. This is called the "course of treatment."
Albendozol
comes in liquid form, in a concentration of 100 mg per milliliter (ml).
How
much of the drug do you give per dose in cubic centimeters? What is the total
amount of the drug to dispense in cc?
Remember:
2.2 pounds = 1 kg
1 ml = 1 cubic centimeter (cc)