Cephalosporins

by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

How you take a drug can affect how well it works and how safe it will be for you. Sometimes it can be almost as important as what you take. Timing, what you eat and when you eat, proper dose, and many other factors can mean the difference between feeling better, staying the same, or feeling worse. This drug information page is intended to help you make your treatment work as effectively as possible. It is important to note, however, that this is only a guideline. You should talk to your doctor about how and when to take any prescribed drugs.

The eighth installment of this series features a class of antibiotics called cephalosporins.

Conditions These Drugs Treat

Cephalosporins are anti-infective agents (as antibiotics are also known) used to treat infections occurring in a variety of places in the body. In general, they are used either after other often less expensive anti-infective agents have been tried or when a certain uncommon type of infection is believed present. All cephalosporins can be used to treat most common urinary tract infections and upper respiratory infections such as pharyngitis (throat inflammation) and tonsillitis. All except cefadroxil may be used to treat otitis media (inflammation of the middle ear). All but cefixime can be used to treat various types of skin infections. Cefuroxime axetil and cefixime can be used to treat bronchitis, while cefaclor can treat lower respiratory infections such as pneumonia. Cephalexin can also be used to treat bone infections. Cephalosporins can be used for other infections, as determined by your doctor.

Infections in any one area of the body (such as the throat, lung, ear, or urinary tract) can be caused by many types of bacteria. Doctors often try to prescribe the anti-infective that best treats the type of bacteria they judge is causing the infection. To be more certain, doctors often culture an area (grow bacteria from an area under laboratory conditions) to determine exactly what types of bacteria are present. This enables them to make a more specific choice of anti-infective. As with other anti-infectives, some cephalosporins can treat certain bacterial infections better than others. This is why doctors sometimes prescribe different cephalosporins for infections that occur in the same area of the body.

How to Take

Cephalosporins can be taken either with food or on an empty stomach. If this medicine upsets your stomach, try taking it with food or milk.

Always store a cephalosporin liquid suspension in the refrigerator (exception: cefixime suspension does not need to be refrigerated). When taking a dose of the suspension, first shake the bottle well. Then use a measuring spoon or other device for administering medicine such as the calibrated medicine dropper included with Keflex pediatric drops. Discard any unused suspension after 14 days.

Be sure to take the right amount of tablets, capsules or suspension for each dose. Taking medicine at the same time each day will help you remember to take it regularly during the period your doctor has prescribed. To make sure your infection goes away completely, always take cephalosporin for the amount of time prescribed even if you feel better sooner. Not taking the cephalosporin for the entire prescribed period can cause your infection to come back. Heart or kidney complications can result if a "strep" (streptococcus) infection is not completely treated.

Missed Doses

To help clear your infection, try not to miss any doses. If you do miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for your next dose, take two doses separated evenly over the next dosing interval (for example, if you take a dose every eight hours, take your next two doses spaced apart by four hours, then resume taking it every eight hours).

Relief of Symptoms

If your infection is caused by a type of bacteria that the cephalosporin can treat, your symptoms should improve within a few days. But, as mentioned before, finish taking the cephalosporin for the full number of days even if you feel better.

Sometimes the symptoms can take longer than a few days to improve or may not go away even after you have taken all of the cephalosporin. This may happen with infections in areas of poor circulation, severe infections, viral infections, or in cases where the infection would be better treated by another anti-infective. If your symptoms have not disappeared after taking all of the cephalosporin or they get worse while taking it, call your doctor.

Side Effects and Risks

Common side effects involve mainly the digestive system: mild stomach cramps or upset, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. These are usually mild and go away over time. Cephalosporins, as well as other anti-infectives, can sometimes cause overgrowth of fungus normally present in the body. This overgrowth can cause mild side effects such as a sore tongue, sores inside the mouth, or vaginal yeast infections.

More serious but infrequent reactions can sometimes occur with cephalosporins. These include:

Allergic reactions. If you have a penicillin allergy, there is a chance you may also be allergic to a cephalosporin. Be sure to tell your doctor if you have had allergic reactions to medications, particularly a penicillin, penicillamine, or a cephalosporin. Allergic reactions to cephalosporins are infrequent, but range from a skin rash that may be itchy, red or swollen to life-threatening reactions such as severe difficulty breathing and shock. Rarely, a specific type of allergic reaction can occur with cefaclor involving a skin rash, joint pains, irritability, and fever.

Serious colitis. This is a rare side effect that includes severe watery diarrhea (sometimes containing blood or mucus), severe stomach cramps, fever, and weakness or faintness. If this happens, contact your doctor immediately before you try treating it yourself with any medications. If these or other new symptoms occur, call your doctor immediately.

Precautions and Warnings

Animal studies do not show cephalosporins to be dangerous during pregnancy. Although the effects of cephalosporins during pregnancy have not been studied in humans, they appear to be relatively safe to use during pregnancy. Let your doctor know if you are or intend to become pregnant while on a cephalosporin.

Cephalosporins pass into breast milk in small amounts, though this is usually not a problem. Nursing mothers should consult with their doctors before breast-feeding while taking a cephalosporin.

Diabetic patients who test their urine for glucose should be aware that cephalosporins can cause a false-positive reading if copper sulfate urine testing tablets are used.

Generic Names cefaclor
cefadroxil
cefixime
cefuroxime axetil
cephalexin
cephradine

About the Author

www.fda.gov
FDA is A United States government body that oversees medical devices, including contact lenses, intraocular lenses, excimer lasers and eyedrops. In the US, these products must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.