Preface 2

The growing interest in pediatric therapeutics started already in the mid 19th century，partly as a result of some well known drug disasters with severe implications for the treated children.The growing interest in pediatric pharmacology has also emerged from the increasing need for relevant and documented drugs in the pediatric population.Even if children are healthier than adults in relative terms，the growing population with 50% children worldwide and more than 20% in developed parts of the world clearly indicates the quantitative importance of the need for drugs.Appropriate documentation and development of drugs for children is urgently needed.There is a prevailing pharmacotherapeutic nihilism in the pediatric medical community based on old misunderstandings about unfavorable drug effects on the development of the child，ethics in pediatric drug trials，and unpredictable pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in children.However，it may be unethical to withhold valuable and well documented drugs from pediatric patients.Development and documentation of new and old drugs may be performed in a safe and ethical way according to modern principles in drug development and science.This book is aimed to bridge the knowledge gaps by presenting important aspects in pediatric drug treatment such as drug disposition，drug efficacy，and adverse reactions within different therapeutic areas.

The editor in chief of this book Professor Li Wang is a pioneer of Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology in China.She is a pediatrician with a strong background in the field.She published her first monograph ten years ago and this version under her leadership is completed by experts in pediatrics，pharmacy，pharmacology，clinical pharmacology and related fields.The book integrates various medical fields with pharmacy，and describes pediatric clinical pharmacology and pediatric rational drug use.The text is detailed，scientific，and advanced and provides also practical knowledge in pediatric pharmacology.

Hopefully，the volume will contribute to an increasing interest and understanding in the field with improvement of pediatric drug therapeutics and development of new valuable pharmacotherapeutic principles for pediatric diseases.This is of crucial importance，not only in developed part of the world，but also in all those countries that are suffering from the major infectious diseases of the world.The contents of the book are of great interest not only to prescribers of drugs for children but also for other members of the medical and pharmaceutical communities.