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FDA Medwatch Alert: Zithromax (azithromycin): FDA Statement on risk of cardiovascular death
Posted 10 days ago by Drugs.com
ISSUE: FDA notified healthcare professionals that it is aware of the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine May 17, 2012 reporting a small increase in cardiovascular deaths, and in the risk of death from any cause, in persons treated with a 5-day course of azithromycin (Zithromax) compared to persons treated with amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, or no drug. FDA is reviewing the results from this study and will communicate any new information on azithromycin and this study or the potential risk of QT interval prolongation after the agency has completed its review. BACKGROUND: Azithromycin belongs to a class of antibacterial drugs called macrolides, which have been associated with cardiovascular effects; specifically, prolongation of the QT interval. In 2011, FDA reviewed macrolide drug labeling information related to QT interval prolongation and TdP. The WARNINGS AND P ... Read more
Related support groups: Bacterial Infection, Azithromycin, Zithromax, Zithromax Z-Pak, Zithromax TRI-PAK, Zithromax IV, Zmax
Study Links Antibiotic to Slight Rise in Heart Patients' Death Risk
Posted 11 days ago by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, May 16 – The widely prescribed antibiotic azithromycin may slightly raise the risk of death in patients with heart disease, a new study suggests. Several antibiotics have been tied to an increased risk of sudden death among heart patients, and recent reports have suggested azithromycin (Zithromax) might be part of that group, said the researchers, from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. "For patients with elevated cardiovascular risk, the cardiovascular effects of azithromycin may be an important clinical consideration," said study author Wayne Ray, a professor of preventive medicine at the school. "All antibiotics have risks and benefits, which must be considered in the prescribing decision." When patients and their doctors consider an antibiotic, they should weigh the heart risks of azithromycin against the severity of the infection and the effectiveness of ... Read more
Related support groups: Heart Disease, Azithromycin, Zithromax, Zithromax Z-Pak, Zithromax TRI-PAK, Zithromax IV, Zmax
One Antibiotic Appears to Ease Severe E. Coli Infection
Posted 13 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, March 13 – Patients suffering from a strain of E. coli that produces Shiga toxin, which can be deadly, appear to respond to the antibiotic azithromycin (Zithromax), according to German researchers. Starting in May 2011, an outbreak of Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli infected nearly 4,000 people in Germany, more than 800 of whom had confirmed cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which causes red blood cells to break apart, resulting in kidney failure. Current treatment discourages using antibiotics for Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli because it could increase the risk for HUS, the researchers note. "The successful decolonization of long-term carriers of the German outbreak strain is an important finding, as the legal authorities in many countries restrict long-term carriers in their social or working life," said lead researcher Dr. Johannes Knobloch, of the institute of ... Read more
Related support groups: Diarrhea, Azithromycin, Zithromax, Zithromax Z-Pak, Zithromax TRI-PAK, Zithromax IV, Infectious Diarrhea, Zmax
Health Tip: Why Antibiotic Resistance Is Serious
Posted 16 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com
-- Antibiotic resistance occurs when a bacterium mutates and becomes immune to the effects of a specific antibiotic. You can help prevent antibiotic resistance by taking an antibiotic regimen only when necessary. Remember that antibiotics don't work against viral infections such as a cold or the flu. If you do begin taking an antibiotic, you should never skip a dose. Also, you should finish the entire amount that your doctor has prescribed, despite the fact that you might be feeling better. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says antibiotic-resistant bacteria are dangerous because: It may be difficult to find a medication that kills the bacteria. Resistant bacteria tend to spread more quickly between families and within communities. Infections become more difficult and more expensive to treat. People may die from a resistant infection before it can be treated ... Read more
Related support groups: Amoxicillin, Doxycycline, Bactrim, Bacterial Infection, Cephalexin, Penicillin, Clindamycin, Azithromycin, Cipro, Metronidazole, Levaquin, Zithromax, Augmentin, Flagyl, Ciprofloxacin
Long-Term Antibiotic Use May Lessen COPD Flare-Ups
Posted 24 Aug 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 24 – Taking a daily dose of the antibiotic azithromycin may help prevent life-threatening complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), researchers say. These complications are commonly referred to as acute exacerbations, and they can cause frequent doctor visits and hospitalizations. Although numerous medications are available to help prevent exacerbations, some people still experience several flare-ups a year. For people with this more serious form of COPD, a new study found that taking azithromycin daily helped to reduce exacerbations. People on the antibiotic had an average of 1.48 exacerbations over a year, compared with 1.83 exacerbations for people who received usual care for COPD. "We tested whether adding azithromycin to standard therapy would decrease COPD exacerbations, and it did. It was associated with some side effects, but we thought the ... Read more
Related support groups: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Azithromycin, Zithromax, Zithromax Z-Pak, Zithromax TRI-PAK, Zithromax IV, Zmax
Docs Overprescribing Antibiotics for Home-Care Patients: Study
Posted 17 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, June 17 – Amid increased threats of drug-resistant infections, a new study reveals that doctors may overprescribe antibiotics to patients receiving ongoing medical care at home. Researchers from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, found that patients younger than 65 and those with poorer prognoses, in particular, are at greatest risk for misuse of the drugs. "Taken together, our results reveal tremendous variability in how and why antibiotics are prescribed, and that overuse in the home-care population is likely," said one of the study's authors, Dr. Mark Loeb. In conducting the study, published in the June issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, researchers compiled medical information on more than 125,000 patients receiving home care for more than 60 days over the course of one year. The findings suggested that doctors may be more cautious with younger ... Read more
Related support groups: Amoxicillin, Doxycycline, Bactrim, Bacterial Infection, Cephalexin, Penicillin, Azithromycin, Cipro, Levaquin, Zithromax, Augmentin, Ciprofloxacin, Keflex, Erythromycin, Sulfamethoxazole
Smarten Up About Antibiotics, CDC Urges
Posted 18 Nov 2010 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Nov. 18 – Knowing when to take antibiotics – and when not to – can help fight the rise of deadly "superbugs," say experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About half of antibiotics prescribed are unnecessary or inappropriate, the agency says, and overuse has helped create bacteria that don't respond, or respond less effectively, to the drugs used to fight them. "Antibiotics are a shared resource that has become a scarce resource," said Dr. Lauri Hicks, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC. She's also medical director a of new program, Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work, that had its launch this week. "Everyone has a role to play in preventing the spread of antibiotic resistance," Hicks said. The stakes are high, said Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, CDC's associate director for health care-associated infection prevention programs. Almost every type of bacteria ... Read more
Related support groups: Infections, Amoxicillin, Doxycycline, Bactrim, Cephalexin, Penicillin, Clindamycin, Azithromycin, Cipro, Metronidazole, Levaquin, Zithromax, Augmentin, Flagyl, Ciprofloxacin
A Radical Plan To Save Antibiotics
Posted 7 Sep 2010 by Drugs.com
From Guardian Web (September 7, 2010) What are we to do about the diminishing power of antibiotics - once the miracle drugs that looked set to end infectious diseases? We know the problem is becoming very serious - here is a piece I wrote about the alarming prospects for a future without antibiotics. But we don’t hear much in the way of imaginative answers. So it’s refreshing to read a paper out this morning from Aaron Kesselheim, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and Kevin Outterson, a professor at Boston University Law School. Their analysis, published in the journal Health Affairs, says the usual idea, to give pharmaceutical companies financial incentives to invent and manufacture more antibiotics, won’t work. One of the reasons we are in this parlous state of affairs, they say, is that drug companies in the past have tried too hard to sell more ... Read more
Related support groups: Infections, Amoxicillin, Doxycycline, Bactrim, Cephalexin, Penicillin, Azithromycin, Cipro, Metronidazole, Levaquin, Zithromax, Augmentin, Flagyl, Ciprofloxacin, Keflex
Azithromycin Doesn't Always Help Lungs in Cystic Fibrosis Patients
Posted 4 May 2010 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, May 4 – Treatment with the antibiotic azithromycin doesn't improve the lung function of children and teens with cystic fibrosis, U.S. researchers report. "A vicious cycle of infection and inflammation causes progressive lung destruction and premature death in patients with cystic fibrosis [CF]. Treatment strategies have therefore included both antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory agents," Dr. Lisa Saiman, of Columbia University in New York City, said in a news release. Over the past decade, studies have suggested that azithromycin, an antibiotic with both antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity, benefits CF patients. Azithromycin is recommended as therapy for CF patients with chronic infection with the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but there has not been enough evidence to support the benefit of azithromycin in other patients with CF, the researchers wrote. This study, ... Read more
Related support groups: Azithromycin, Zithromax, Zithromax Z-Pak, Cystic Fibrosis, Zithromax TRI-PAK, Zithromax IV, Zmax
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Zithromax, Zithromax Z-Pak, Zithromax IV, Zithromax TRI-PAK, Zmax