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ERYTHROMYCIN is a brand name for Erythromycin. The medicine, its uses, side effects and dosage are the same regardless of brand.
Used for: For the prophylaxis and treatment of infections caused by erythromycin sensitive organisms. Erythromycin is effective in the treatment of a great variety a clinical infections. 1. Upper respiratory tract infection: Tonsillitis, peritonsillar abscess, pharyngitis, laryngitis, sinusitis, secondary infections in clods…
Verbatim from this product's MHRA label. Tap a section to expand.
Adults: 1g to 2g/day erythromycin activity divided into 6, 8 or 12 hourly doses. May be increased to up to 4g daily in divided doses in severe infections. Tablets should be taken before and with meals.
Children:
Normally use Erythromycin Suspension. If tablets are used calculate dose on basis of 30mg erythromycin activity/kg/day in divided doses. In severe infections this may be raised to 50mg/kg/day in divided doses.
Blood and lymphatic system disorders:
Eosinophilia. Cardiac disorders QTc interval prolongation, torsades de pointes, palpitations, and cardiac rhythm disorders including ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Ear and labyrinth disorders Deafness, tinnitus. There have been isolated reports of reversible hearing loss occurring chiefly in patients with renal insufficiency or high doses.
Gastrointestinal disorders The most frequent side effects of oral erythromycin are gastrointestinal and are dose- related.
The following have been reported:
Upper abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, pancreatitis, anorexia, infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis. 4). General disorders and administration site conditions Chest pain, fever, malaise. 4). Immune system disorders Allergic reactions ranging from urticaria and mild skin eruptions to anaphylaxis have occurred.
Investigations Increased liver enzyme values. Nervous system disorders There have been isolated reports of transient central nervous system side effects including confusion, seizures and vertigo; however, a cause and effect relationship has not been established.
Psychiatric disorders Hallucinations Eye disorders Mitochondrial Optic Neuropathy Renal and urinary disorders Interstitial nephritis Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders Skin eruptions, pruritus, urticaria, exanthema, angioedema, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, erythema multiforme.
Not known (frequency cannot be estimated from the available data): acute generalised exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP) Vascular disorders Hypotension. The rare possibility of super infection caused by overgrowth of non-susceptible bacteria or fungi should be considered during prolonged or repeated therapy, especially when other antibacterial agents are simultaneously employed.
Erythromycin is excreted principally by the liver, so caution should be exercised in administering the antibiotic to patients with impaired hepatic function or concomitantly receiving potentially hepatotoxic agents. Hepatic dysfunction including increased liver enzymes and/or cholestatic hepatitis, with or without jaundice, has been infrequently reported with erythromycin.
This product should not be used in patients with porphyria. 8). Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea (CDAD) has been reported with use of nearly all antibacterial agents including erythromycin, and may range in severity from mild diarrhoea to fatal colitis.
Treatment with antibacterial agents alters the normal flora of the colon, which may lead to overgrowth of C. difficile. CDAD must be considered in all patients who present with diarrhoea following antibiotic use. Careful medical history is necessary since CDAD has been reported to occur over two months after the administration of antibacterial agents.
Patients receiving erythromycin concurrently with drugs which can cause prolongation of the QT interval should be carefully monitored. 5). There have been reports suggesting erythromycin does not reach the foetus in adequate concentrations to prevent congenital syphilis.
Infants born to women treated during pregnancy with oral erythromycin for early syphilis should be treated with an appropriate penicillin regimen. There have been reports that erythromycin may aggravate the weakness of patients with myasthenia gravis.
Erythromycin interferes with the fluorometric determination of urinary catecholamines. Rhabdomyolysis with or without renal impairment has been reported in seriously ill patients receiving erythromycin concomitantly with statins. There have been reports of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS) occurring in infants following erythromycin therapy.
1. Erythromycin is contraindicated in patients taking simvastatin, tolterodine, mizolastine, amisulpride, astemizole, terfenadine, domperidone, cisapride or pimozide. Erythromycin is contraindicated with ergotamine and dihydroergotamine.
5).
Not medical advice. Always read the patient information leaflet and follow your prescriber or pharmacist.
Other brands of Erythromycin in United Kingdom.
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In one cohort of 157 newborns who were given erythromycin for pertussis prophylaxis, seven neonates (5%) developed symptoms of non- bilious vomiting or irritability with feeding and were subsequently diagnosed as having IHPS requiring surgical pyloromyotomy.
Since erythromycin may be used in the treatment of conditions in infants which are associated with significant mortality or morbidity (such as pertussis or chlamydia), the benefit of erythromycin therapy needs to be weighed against the potential risk of developing IHPS.
Parents should be informed to contact their physician if vomiting or irritability with feeding occurs. As with other macrolides, rare serious allergic reactions, including acute generalised exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP) have been reported.
If an allergic reaction occurs, the drug should be discontinued and appropriate therapy should be instituted. Physicians should be aware that reappearance of the allergic symptoms may occur when symptomatic therapy is discontinued. 5).