An adult client weighing 198 lbs is prescribed praziquantel. How many 600 mg tablets should be administered for each dose?

Praziquantel is an anthelmintic medication commonly used to treat infections caused by certain types of parasitic worms, including schistosomiasis and various cestodes. The typical dosing for praziquantel in adults is based on body weight, generally calculated as 25 mg/kg for treatment.

To determine the appropriate dosage for an adult client weighing 198 lbs, we first need to convert the weight from pounds to kilograms since the dosing is provided in mg/kg. The conversion factor is approximately 2.2 lbs per kg.

198 lbs ÷ 2.2 lbs/kg ≈ 90 kg.

Next, we multiply the weight in kilograms by the prescribed dose per kilogram:

90 kg × 25 mg/kg = 2250 mg.

Since the available tablet strength is 600 mg, we need to divide the total required dose by the dose of each tablet to find the number of tablets needed:

2250 mg ÷ 600 mg/tablet = 3.75 tablets.

Since it's not standard practice to provide a fraction of a tablet, we round to the nearest whole tablet. In this case, the most appropriate rounding down to a whole number that still achieves close to the required dosage without exceeding it would typically