Penicillin
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Follow the links below to find trusted information about penicillin.
Last reviewed: May 2018
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Who can take amoxycillin?
Amoxycillin can be taken during pregnancy and if you are breastfeeding unless you are allergic to amoxycillin or penicillin. Find out what to tell your doctor before you take amoxycillin.
Read more on NPS MedicineWise website
Gonorrhoea | Public Health
Read more on Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services website
Penicillin and other antibiotic allergy | myVMC
Penicillin and antibiotic allergy cause allergic symptoms like rash, swelling and difficulty breathing when an affected person uses antibiotics.
Read more on myVMC – Virtual Medical Centre website
Abbocillin VK | myVMC
Abbocillin VK contains phenoxymethylpenicillin potassium, a form of penicillin used to treat bacterial infections
Read more on myVMC – Virtual Medical Centre website
Achromycin | myVMC
Achromycin contain tetracycline hydrochloride. It is a bacteriostatic medicine used to treat infections and may be used as alternative to penicillin.
Read more on myVMC – Virtual Medical Centre website
Who can take amoxycillin with clavulanic acid?
Amoxycillin with clavulanic acid can be taken during pregnancy and if you are breastfeeding unless you are allergic to amoxycillin or penicillin. Find out what to tell your doctor before you take amoxicillin with clavulanic acid.
Read more on NPS MedicineWise website
Anti-bacterials (Antibiotic Medicine) | myVMC
Information about antibiotic treatment, ainti-bacterial medicines, natural antibiotics
Read more on myVMC – Virtual Medical Centre website
Cilicaine Syringe 1.5 Suspension for injection - myDr.com.au
Cilicaine Syringe 1.5 Suspension for injection - Consumer Medicines Information leaflets of prescription and over-the-counter medicines
Read more on myDr – Consumer Medicine Information website
Vancomycin - Lab Tests Online AU
Why and when to get tested for vancomycin
Read more on Lab Tests Online website
Amohexal | myVMC
Amohexal is an antibiotic that treats specific bacterial infections
Read more on myVMC – Virtual Medical Centre website
Top results
Azithromycin versus penicillin G benzathine for early syphilis | Cochrane
Syphilis is a complex disease that can involve virtually any organ in the body. The World Health Organization estimates that at least 12 million people are infected with syphilis worldwide. Some early research suggested that azithromycin was superior to benzathine penicillin G in the treatment of early syphilis, and that azithromycin can overcome the disadvantages of penicillin G benzathine. This review of three trials failed to identify a difference between azithromycin and benzathine penicillin G for early syphilis in the odds of cure rate, with the result being too imprecise to confidently rule out the superiority of either treatment option. Although gastrointestinal adverse effects were more common in the participants on azithromycin, than in those given benzathine penicillin G, the difference with benzathine penicillin did not reach statistical significance. More research is required in this area.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Intramuscular penicillin for the prevention of early onset group B streptococcal infection in newborn infants | Cochrane
Intramuscular penicillin for the prevention of early onset group B streptococcal infection in newborn infants
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Penicillin reduces the risk of streptococcal throat infections and attacks of rheumatic fever in people who have already had a bout of rheumatic fever | Cochrane
Penicillin reduces the risk of streptococcal throat infections and attacks of rheumatic fever in people who have already had a bout of rheumatic fever
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Antibiotics for syphilis diagnosed during pregnancy | Cochrane
Penicillin is effective in curing syphilis during pregnancy but more research is needed on the best dosage and duration of treatment.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Antibiotics for gonorrhoea in pregnancy | Cochrane
Pregnant women with gonorrhoea who take penicillin, spectinomycin or ceftriaxone are much less likely to show signs of infection.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Penicillamine for treating rheumatoid arthritis | Cochrane
Penicillamine is a penicillin derived compound. Studies showed that this could be used to treat rheumatoid arthritis originally in 1950. It was frequently used in the past, but its use has declined with the increasing use of other disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), such as methotrexate. The purpose of this summary was to find out if penicillamine is helpful in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Antibiotics for the treatment of leptospirosis | Cochrane
Leptospirosis is a common disease both in the developed and developing world. It is caused by a bacteria spread by the urine of animals. People travelling, agricultural field workers, hunters, homeless, and others with close animal contact are groups that, in particular, can get leptospirosis. Like many common infections, most people infected with this disease do not feel sick. When people do feel sick, in some instances up to 1 out of every 10 people have died. Whether or not antibiotics should be used, and if used which antibiotic should be used have been matters for debate for many years. This review identified and assessed seven clinical trials that tested antibiotics in patients sick with leptospirosis. Four of these trials compared intravenous penicillin to a placebo. Three of the trials looked at differences between different antibiotics. All trials had high risk of systematic errors (bias) and of random errors (play of chance). When looked at together, these trials do not answer the basic questions about whether or not antibiotics should be used. Part of the reason for this is that there is a wide range of severity among people ill with the disease. Additional randomised clinical trials are needed. Nonetheless, these trials suggest that antibiotics administered to patients who are sick with leptospirosis may make patients feel better two days earlier than they otherwise would have improved. However, it is also possible that when patients are severely ill, penicillin therapy might increase the risk of death or dialysis in comparison to those who receive no antibiotics. Other antibiotics have not been tested in this way. Despite the lack of evidence, if a clinician chooses to treat leptospirosis with an antibiotic, there does not seem to be any difference between the appropriate use of intravenous penicillin, intravenous cephalosporin, doxycyline, or azithromycin. But, for this they have not been tested to the same extent as intravenous penicillin.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Allergic reactions to antibiotics - Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA)
Antibiotic Allergy Clinical Update: While less than 20% of all adverse drug reactions are immune mediated, it is common for a patient to give a history of being 'allergic' to an antimicrobial, usually penicillin. If penicillin is administered to a highly allergic patient, fatal anaphylaxis can occur.
Read more on ASCIA – Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy website
Regular antibiotics for preventing pneumococcal infection in young children with sickle cell disease | Cochrane
People with sickle cell disease (SCD) are especially prone to respiratory infections and blood poisoning. These infections are often caused by pneumococcal bacteria. Infections occur partly due to the spleen not working correctly, but also because damaged tissue and bone resulting from SCD can harbour bacteria. The highest risk of infection occurs in children under three years old, but the usual pneumococcal vaccines are of limited use in these patients. Therefore regular antibiotics are needed to prevent infection. As risk of infection decreases with age, there might be a time when preventative antibiotic treatment can be halted. Three trials with over 800 children are included in the review. All three trials showed a reduced rate of infection in children with sickle cell disease receiving penicillin preventatively. Two trials looked at whether treatment was effective. The third trial followed on from one of the early trials and looked at when it was safe to stop treatment. Adverse drug effects were rare and minor. However, there were problems with children keeping to the treatment schedule and with the development of antibiotic resistance. We conclude that penicillin given preventatively reduces the rate of pneumococcal infections in children with sickle cell disease under five years old. The risk of infection in older children is lower, and the follow-on trial did not show a significant increase in risk when regular penicillin was halted at five years old. Further research should look at how common and how clinically important resistant bacteria are.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Antimicrobial drugs for treating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization | Cochrane
Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium that can cause serious infections. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) refers to strains of S. aureus that are resistant to many antibiotics including the penicillins. Hospital infection control staff want to limit the spread of MRSA for several reasons and one of the ways of doing this is to use either topical or oral antimicrobial drugs in an attempt to eradicate MRSA from individuals who are colonized. However there is insufficient evidence to support the use of topical or oral antimicrobial therapy for eradicating nasal or extra-nasal MRSA. No one type of treatment either topical or oral or a combinations of both showed a superior effect. Potentially serious adverse events and development of antimicrobial resistance can result from therapy.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
