The traditional treatment of strep infections has been a seven-day course of antibiotics, either penicillin or erythromycin. However, since many patients stop taking those drugs within three days, reinfection is common in cases where those drugs are prescribed. A new antibiotic requires only a three-day course of treatment. Therefore, reinfection will probably be less common in cases where the new antibiotic is prescribed than in cases where either penicillin or erythromycin is prescribed.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
A. Some of the people who are allergic to penicillin are likely to be allergic to the new antibiotic.
B. A course of treatment with the new antibiotic costs about the same as a course of treatment with either penicillin or erythromycin.
C. The new antibiotic has been shown to be effective in eradicating bacterial infections other than strep.
D. Some physicians have already begun to prescribe the new antibiotic instead of penicillin or erythromycin for the treatment of some strep infections.
E. Regardless of whether they take a traditional antibiotic or the new one, most patients feel fully recovered after taking the drug for three days.
I'm confused between E and C. Can any experts help?
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The traditional treatment of strep infections has been a sev
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Conclusion; Strep reinfection will be less common in patients who are prescribed the new antibiotic.ardz24 wrote:The traditional treatment of strep infections has been a seven-day course of antibiotics, either penicillin or erythromycin. However, since many patients stop taking those drugs within three days, reinfection is common in cases where those drugs are prescribed. A new antibiotic requires only a three-day course of treatment. Therefore, reinfection will probably be less common in cases where the new antibiotic is prescribed than in cases where either penicillin or erythromycin is prescribed.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
A. Some of the people who are allergic to penicillin are likely to be allergic to the new antibiotic.
B. A course of treatment with the new antibiotic costs about the same as a course of treatment with either penicillin or erythromycin.
C. The new antibiotic has been shown to be effective in eradicating bacterial infections other than strep.
D. Some physicians have already begun to prescribe the new antibiotic instead of penicillin or erythromycin for the treatment of some strep infections.
E. Regardless of whether they take a traditional antibiotic or the new one, most patients feel fully recovered after taking the drug for three days.
I'm confused between E and C. Can any experts help?
Premises: Old antibiotics require a seven-day course of treatment. Many patients stop taking the old drugs within three days.
We can see that the conclusion is true if patients who would have stopped the old antibiotics after three days, do, in fact, take the new one for the prescribed three days. Put another way, if patients would have taken the old antibiotics for the full seven days, they wouldn't be less likely to experience reinfection on the new drug, as the old drug would have cured them. And if patients taking the new drug stopped after, say, one day, they wouldn't be less likely to experience reinfection, because the new drug wouldn't have run its course. But if most patients feel recovered after three days on either drug- as E states - then the old drug likely won't prevent reinfection and the new one will, thus strengthening the conclusion that reinfection rates will decrease.
C is irrelevant. We care about the likelihood of strep reinfection. Information about other types of infection can't shed light on this.
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meenakshimiyer
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A. People being allergic to drug is not the concern of the passage.
B. The cost of the course of treatment is also not the concern of the passage.
C. Only strep infection is been talked about here. So, other bacterial infections are out of scope.
D. This could be because of the efficiency or the price of new antibiotic. So, this doesn't strengthen the argument.
E. This statement strengthens the argument as people feel fully recovered after taking the course for 3 days but it is mentioned in the argument that re-infection is common in traditional treatment of strep infection if the patients stops taking antibiotic any day before the whole course gets complete. So, people might stop taking traditional antibiotics after 3 days when they start feeling recovered and thus get exposed to re-infection. Hence, E is the answer.
B. The cost of the course of treatment is also not the concern of the passage.
C. Only strep infection is been talked about here. So, other bacterial infections are out of scope.
D. This could be because of the efficiency or the price of new antibiotic. So, this doesn't strengthen the argument.
E. This statement strengthens the argument as people feel fully recovered after taking the course for 3 days but it is mentioned in the argument that re-infection is common in traditional treatment of strep infection if the patients stops taking antibiotic any day before the whole course gets complete. So, people might stop taking traditional antibiotics after 3 days when they start feeling recovered and thus get exposed to re-infection. Hence, E is the answer.
