Antibiotics are in the modern world the main elements in the treatment of complex diseases. Their task is the fight against pathogenic microorganisms. It is thanks to these drugs that a person can fight a huge number of infectious diseases that were previously incurable. Over the past thirty years, a large number of these drugs have been developed aimed at treating a wide range of diseases. But not everything is so good, today even ordinary people who are not versed in medicine know that there are complications of antibiotic therapy. A significant number of scientific articles and works have been devoted to this topic, and this suggests that the problem really has a place to be.
Antibiotics are a subject of study in the science of macrobiology. Complications of antibiotic therapy concern not only doctors around the world, but also their patients accordingly.
Drug resistance
Medical staff should be serious about prescribing and using antibiotics. Before we learn about the main complications of antibiotic therapy, the classification of ailments that appear during its use, let's touch on the issue of the stability of the medication, which is what you must first pay attention to when choosing it.
First of all, attention should be paid to forms of drug resistance. As a first example, we can say that penicillin will be useless in the treatment of diseases caused by E. coli - this is sepsis or peritonitis. It should also be borne in mind that treatment can be useless if a small dose of the drug is prescribed or, conversely, certain microorganisms are quite common with the same medication, which leads to their addiction.
Any competent medical professional knows that before prescribing antibiotic therapy, it is necessary to take into account the specificity of the drug to a microorganism that affects a person. Doses should be high enough and rhythmic to constantly maintain the concentration of antibiotic in the blood. However, the course of admission should not exceed a week. The best option would be the combined use of medicines, since different drugs will affect different aspects of the metabolism of pathogenic microorganisms.
Antibiotic administration
The effectiveness of the entire treatment depends on the method of administration of these medications. The oral method of taking antibiotics is the most common. To date, a huge number of medicines have been developed, the administration of which orally ensures their content in human blood at the highest level. This method of administration is most justified in the presence of a variety of intestinal infections. The most common problem in the use of antibiotic therapy is its greater accessibility to the population. A person independently has the opportunity to purchase the drug in a pharmacy and, thanks to simple instructions, use it. However, the frequent use of the same antibiotic leads to secondary resistance and, as a consequence, inefficiency.
Parenteral methods of using these medicines can be distinguished. The most popular is intramuscular injection. Depending on the type of pathology, the doctor may prescribe intra-arterial or intravenous administration of the drug to achieve the highest concentration in the blood.
In diseases such as peritonitis, purulent arthritis, pleurisy, antibiotics are administered intracavitary (in the joint cavity, in the abdominal cavity, in the pleural cavity). The introduction of drugs into the human body does not end there. Scientists are looking for new effective routes of administration. The endolymphatic method of administration is being studied. This method will allow you to maintain the daily norm of concentration of the antibiotic in the blood with a single injection. The injection site is the lymph nodes of the abdominal or pleural cavities. The effect of this method was noticeable in the treatment of diseases of the female reproductive system, peritonitis, purulent processes in the pleura.
Complications of antibiotic therapy, their prevention
The following unpleasant consequences of taking these chemicals are distinguished:
- allergic reactions;
- anaphylactic shock;
- skin manifestations;
- toxic reactions;
- dysbiosis;
- stomatitis;
- photosensitivity.
All complications will be considered in detail below, and a number of measures aimed at preventing them will be applied.
Allergic manifestations
Complications of antibiotic therapy are different. Sometimes these are small uncomfortable conditions in the body, and sometimes you can meet severe cases that end in death. One of the negative manifestations is allergy. Most often, it can be found in sensitized people and less often in people with congenital intolerance to a particular medication. Allergic reactions occur if the drug has been reintroduced. Sensitivity to the components of the drug can remain for a long time.
Sometimes you can meet cross sensitization - these are allergic manifestations to another drug containing the same components as the antibiotic. According to statistics, sensitization occurs in 10% of people who have been exposed to antibiotic therapy. More severe manifestations are even less common. For example, if penicillin is used for 70,000 people, then anaphylactic shock will occur in only one person.
Anaphylactic shock
This complication of antibiotic therapy is the most severe. A greater percentage of the occurrence of such an ailment, namely in 94% of cases, occurs in penicillin. But in practice, there were troubles of this kind from the use of tetracycline, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, amoxicillin and other drugs of this group. According to the Ministry of Health, the use of antibiotics was complicated by allergies in 80% of cases, anaphylactic shock occurred in 6% of cases, 1.5% of which were fatal.
Skin complications
The most common complications of antibiotic therapy are skin complications. They appear as a result of the reaction of the human immune system to the medication. Among them, in the form of antibiotic therapy complications, such as urticaria, blisters, and erythema are distinguished. Swelling of the face, tongue and larynx may occur. Conjunctivitis, joint pain may appear. Such manifestations may be accompanied by increased body temperature and an increase in eosinophils in the blood. The second appear as a result of the reaction of the lymph nodes and spleen. In this case, tissue necrosis is formed at the injection site.
As practice shows, trusting skin tests in sensitized people is not worth it. In 40% they gave a negative result, but the allergy still developed after an injection of the antibiotic. Sometimes it came to anaphylactic shock, so it is recommended to refuse such tests.
Rash
This phenomenon is quite common when taking antibiotics. It occurs only if a person has an individual intolerance to the components of a chemical preparation. Most often, it occurs in patients suffering from HIV infection, leukemia, infectious mononucleosis. The longer antibiotics are taken, the stronger the allergic reaction will occur. Often, rashes on the skin appear not from the first day of taking the drug, but a little later. This is due to the fact that initially the allergen accumulates in the blood, and then produces a reaction. Not every person will immediately determine that the rashes are caused precisely by antibiotic therapy, so if you find such problems, you should immediately contact a medical institution
Toxic reactions
In this case, in comparison with allergies, everything is specific to each drug and is characterized by certain symptoms. Such complications of antibiotic therapy arise from the effect of the drug on certain organs and depend on the breakdown products of the drug in the human body. Most often, these manifestations can be found with antibiotic therapy, which is carried out for a long time. In this case, medicines are used in huge quantities. The severity of toxic manifestations depends on how long and in what doses the antibiotic is used.
Sometimes such a nuisance occurs when there are no enzymes in the body responsible for the metabolism of the antibiotic, as a result of which it accumulates in the human body. In this case, the medication negatively affects the human nervous system. If the drug enters the auditory nerve, partial or complete hearing loss may occur. The liver, kidneys, blood, bone marrow and other organs of a person suffer from an overdose of antibiotics. Local toxic effects are manifested in the formation of tissue necrosis at the injection site.
Complications of antibiotic therapy from the macroorganism
Like any other medicines, antibiotics can have a negative effect not only on the body, but also on the microbes that inhabit it. At the same time, harmful organisms and beneficial microflora fall under the influence. Antibiotics have a depressing effect on them, and can also lead to the formation of atypical forms of microorganisms, which in turn leads to difficulties in diagnosing an infectious disease.
Dysbacteriosis
As already mentioned, antibiotics affect not only pathogenic microbes, but also healthy microflora. All this leads to disruption of the gastrointestinal tract, and sometimes to the formation of secondary infections, such as candidiasis or colitis.
While taking antibiotics, the body does not absorb the minerals and vitamins that come with food. As a result, a person feels a breakdown caused by iron deficiency anemia. If you destroy the normal microflora of the gastrointestinal tract, the body becomes defenseless against the external environment and harmful microbes. A person is tormented by constipation, diarrhea, flatulence. Constipation can be prolonged and frequent, severe bloating disturbs the stomach, itching in the anus is felt, stool becomes loose and has an unpleasant odor. Dysbacteriosis can be accompanied by nausea and weakness, loss of appetite and sleep disturbance.
Babies behave uneasily, constantly cry and act up. Due to unpleasant sensations in the abdomen, the baby tries to press her legs to her chest. Around the anus, redness and irritation of the skin are visible.
Dysbacteriosis should be treated immediately, but it is best done with the help of medical specialists who will conduct all the necessary examinations and prescribe a rational treatment that is suitable specifically for your body. Diagnosis consists of bacteriological examination of feces, colonoscopy (examination of the rectum by introducing a special apparatus for one meter into it), sigmoidoscopy (the rectum is also examined with the introduction of the apparatus for 30 centimeters), an analysis of the parietal flora is carried out. The degree of development of dysbiosis depends on the degree of reproduction of harmful microorganisms.
Antibiotics and newborns
With serious diseases, children even of newborns need to inject antibiotics. Infectious diseases accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea are treated with ampicillin. Staph infections can not be cured without the use of first-generation cephalosporins. The universal antibiotic for both adults and children is metronidazole. Complications arising from antibiotic therapy in newborns also have a place to be.
What should I remember when taking antibiotics for newborns?
Only a doctor can prescribe a chemical drug to such children. It is he who, when appointing, takes into account the following factors:
- The state of health of the crumbs and its prematurity.
- Underweight is contraindicated in taking medications in this group. For 50 babies 29, the main complications of antibiotic therapy will be unambiguous, for the rest, even slight discomfort in the gastrointestinal tract is not excluded.
- Congenital intolerance to the drug and a tendency to allergic manifestations.
- The degree of incidence.
- The development of crumbs. With its apparent lag behind peers, a ban is imposed on antibiotics.
Do not consult a doctor with antibiotics on your newborn baby. Nasal congestion and a slight cough are not a reason for self-medication.
What complications do newborn babies face?
For each doctor, prescribing crumb antibiotics is a very responsible decision. At the same time, it is necessary to observe the patient constantly. Complications and side effects of antibiotic therapy in this case are manifested in toxicological effects on the baby's body. This influence belongs to a high hazard class.
Less aggressive manifestations - biological ones, may also appear during the process of taking medications. These are secondary infections, hypovitaminosis, depression of immunity, dysbiosis. The younger the baby, the more often he will be affected by the above negative factors. With prolonged use of this type of chemical preparations, such complications and side effects of antibiotic therapy as necrotizing enterocolitis occur . This is a non-specific inflammatory disease that is caused by infectious agents against the background of damage to the intestinal mucosa or its functional immaturity. Symptoms include somatic reactions and abdominal manifestations. With a long course, signs of intestinal perforation and a clinic of peritonitis are observed.
At the end of the course of taking antibiotics, newborns, especially those born earlier than their due date, should be prescribed drugs that are responsible for establishing the functioning of the intestinal microflora.
The appearance of stomatitis
Complications of antibiotic therapy in the oral cavity include stomatitis. This disease is manifested by inflammation of the oral mucosa. While taking antibiotics, this disease can occur in two different ways.
In the first case, drug stomatitis or, as it is also called, allergic can occur. In this situation, the medication will act as an allergen. When an antibiotic enters the body, the processes of allergic reactions are triggered, resulting in swelling of the mucous membranes of the oral cavity.
In the second case, this complication after antibiotic therapy begins a few days after taking the drug. This is the so-called fungal stomatitis or candidiasis. From the moment of taking the antibiotic, the natural flora in the oral cavity begins to break down and Candida fungus multiplies. Such stomatitis is very easy to identify. An unpleasant-smelling white coating (thrush) is formed on the oral cavity.
Drug stomatitis can occur from any other drug, or from all antibiotics. Complications of antibiotic therapy of this nature can also manifest in the form of conjunctivitis, dermatitis, rhinitis, Quincke's edema, anaphylactic shock.
Thrush is more common than allergic manifestations. This is due to the fact that the normal oral cavity of any person is populated with beneficial microflora, but antibiotics inevitably lead to its destruction. With prolonged antibiotic therapy, Candida fungi completely colonize the oral cavity and an unpleasant white coating forms on the mucous membranes and tongue.
Photosensitivity
It is a solar dermatitis on open skin. Most often, tetracyclines are the culprits of this trouble.
What other problems do antibiotics cause?
The following main complications of antibiotic therapy can be distinguished:
- Dysbacteriosis occurs in almost every case of antibiotic use.
- Oppression of the immune system.
- Violation of normal blood circulation.
- Neurotoxic effects on the brain.
- Toxic effects on the kidneys.
- Violation of fetal development in pregnant women.
- Deafness.
Paying attention to the main complications of antibiotic therapy, you need to remember about getting used to these drugs. Their prolonged use does not give a therapeutic effect, but negatively affects the human body.
How to take a course of antibiotic therapy?
Prevention of complications of antibiotic therapy consists in observing the following rules:
- Do not self-medicate. The course of taking antibiotics should be prescribed only by the attending physician, who will take into account all parameters (weight, height, individual intolerance and others).
- Each drug has its own drug. Do not think that if the antibiotic is strong, then it will cure any ailment.
- Treatment must be continued to the very end, even if you feel improvement. Otherwise, treatment will have to be started anew, and this is an additional burden on the body.
- It is imperative to remember which drugs you and your children have had allergic reactions in order not to make repeated mistakes in the future.
- You can not reduce the dose yourself, without the knowledge of the attending physician.
- It is mandatory to use medicines every day and preferably at the same time.
When observing the prevention of antibiotic complications, their prevention will play in your favor.