"Levomycetin" is an antibacterial medication that is used to treat infectious diseases. It has a wide spectrum of action, the drug is actively used in pediatrics and ophthalmology.
Pharmacological actions
The main component of “Levomycetin” operatively affects both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, and also effectively affect the following harmful microorganisms:
- meningococcal infection (acute infectious disease of purulent meningitis, meningoencephalitis and meningococcemia with damage to various organs and systems);
- dysentery (an infectious disease characterized by general infectious intoxication syndrome);
- typhoid fever.
The drug productively fights against diseases caused by hemophilic bacteria. The drug is useless against the following bacteria:
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa;
- acid resistant microorganisms;
- clostridium;
- protozoa.
With external use of the drug, the concentration of the drug focuses in the iris, cornea, vitreous body, while “Levomycetin” does not enter the lens. Chloramphenicol has the greatest activity against several groups of bacteria:
- Gram-positive staphylococcus bacteria (a complex pathological process is manifested by the absence of any symptoms in the initial stages and severe intoxication and the development of purulent-inflammatory foci), streptococci (the cause of the infection that causes scarlet fever, tonsillitis, abscesses, otitis media, rheumatism, pneumonia, sepsis).
- Gram-negative bacteria - Neisseria (cause gonorrhea), Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella (causes dysentery), Klebsiella (causes acute intestinal pathologies), Yersinia, Proteus (diseases of the stomach and intestines, damage to the urinary tract, intestinal dysbiosis).
The active substance is instantly absorbed both by ingestion and rectal administration. The maximum concentration of the active component in the blood occurs after a few hours. Once in the blood, organs and tissues, the drug also passes into breast milk.
After absorption into the blood, chloramphenicol is evenly distributed throughout the body, the time to remove the drug from the body is from one and a half to three and a half hours.
Release form
It is released in the form of tablets, powder, eye drops. The instructions for use of "Levomycetin" for children say that the medicine in tablets contains 0.5 and 0.25 grams of an active trace element. Additional components are:
- octadecanoic acid;
- calcium stearate;
- starch.
“Levomycetin” in the form of a powder contains 500 and 1000 milligrams of the active substance. It is necessary for the preparation of injections.
One milliliter of eye drops stores 2.5 grams of chloramphenicol. The drug is dispensed in dropper bottles of five and ten milliliters.
Structure
The active substance that is part of “Levomycetin” (instructions for use for children and adults below) is chloramphenicol. Among the excipients, boric acid and water for injection.
Indications
According to the instructions for use, "Levomycetin" is used in the presence of the following diseases:
- Yersiniosis (acute intestinal disease, which is accompanied by allergic manifestations).
- Salmonellosis (an infectious intestinal disease caused by pathogens of the genus Salmonella).
- Paratyphoid fever (an acute infectious disease that occurs like typhoid fever).
- Tularemia (damage to the lymph nodes and skin, and in some cases the mucous membranes of the pharynx, eyes, and lungs, in addition, is also distinguished by the symptoms of general intoxication).
- Rickettsiosis (diseases of a transmissible etiology, the causative agent of which are rickettsia).
- Brucellosis (zoonotic infection transmitted from sick animals to humans, characterized by multiple lesions of organs and systems of the human body).
- Typhoid fever (acute cyclically flowing intestinal anthroponous infection caused by Salmonella bacteria).
- Meningitis (an infectious inflammatory disease of the membranes of the spinal cord or brain).
- Chlamydia (sexually transmitted infection caused by chlamydia).
"Chloramphenicol" is used with the low effectiveness of other chemotherapeutic agents. In ophthalmology, the drug is used to treat and prevent infectious eye diseases:
- Blepharitis (inflammation of the upper and lower eyelids).
- Conjunctivitis (inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eye caused by an allergic reaction or infection).
- Keratitis (inflammation of the cornea of the eye, manifested mainly by its clouding, ulceration, pain and redness of the eye).
- Dacryocystitis (inflammation of the lacrimal sac, which develops against the background of closure and growth of the abdominal organ or an abnormal narrowing of the openings of the nasolacrimal canal)
- Keratoconjunctivitis (an inflammatory disease that affects the cornea and conjunctiva of the eye).
- Barley (acute purulent inflammation of the hair sac of the eyelash or Zeiss sebaceous gland, which is located near the eyelash bulb).
- Neuroparalytic keratitis complicated by a bacterial infection (sluggish inflammation of the cornea that develops when the trigeminal nerve is damaged).
Instructions for use
Levomycetin tablets for diarrhea should be drunk thirty minutes before a meal. As a rule, the doctor prescribes treatment in the following dosages:
- Adults need to take one to two (0.25 grams) tablets three to four times a day, the maximum dose of not more than two grams per day. In severe diseases, medication can be increased to four grams, carefully monitoring the work of the kidneys and liver.
- In children, a single dosage of “Levomycetin” in tablets is calculated based on the child’s body weight - for children under three years of age, 10-15 milligrams per kilogram of weight should be taken, children from three to eight years old need from 0.15 to 2 grams of the drug. Dosage of the drug for adolescents is from 0.2 to 0.3 milligrams per kilogram of weight. A single dose of “Levomycetin” can be taken by children from three to four times a day, depending on the course of the disease.
- The duration of the course is no more than ten days. In exceptional situations, with good tolerability of the drug, the duration of treatment is two weeks.
A solution prepared from Levomycetin powder is used for intravenous and intramuscular administration. Children are prescribed only intramuscular injections. As a rule, the contents of the vial are dissolved in two to three milliliters of water. In diabetes mellitus for jet intravenous injection, the powder is dissolved in 10 milliliters of water. Procedures are carried out at certain time intervals. The duration of treatment and dosage is prescribed by a doctor.
Adults are most often prescribed injections two to three times a day in a dosage of 500 to 1000 milligrams of Chloramphenicol, in severe diseases, the dose of the drug is doubled, but not more than 4000 milligrams.
Eye drops "Levomycetin"
Instructions for use indicate that in ophthalmology the drug is used by instilling in the lower eyelid a couple of drops of a five percent solution of Levomycetin three to five times a day. The duration of therapy is from five to fifteen days. Drops are a local antibiotic, used for infectious or bacterial diseases of the eyes.
You can not use the medicine in the presence of eczema, with psoriasis, skin ulcers, pustular rashes, renal failure. It is also forbidden to drip drops for children under four months of age, with breastfeeding, pregnancy, people who are undergoing chemotherapy.
According to reviews, “Levomycetin” may cause a short-term loss of vision. In this case, it is not recommended to carry out work that requires increased attention.
Important! You can not use the drug after the expiration date.
How to apply eye drops?
"Levomycetin" is recommended to be used only after the appointment of a doctor. As a rule, from one to three drops are instilled into the inflamed eye every hour, then every three to four hours.
For prevention, the drug is used two or three times a day.
If the patient himself drips the medicine (without the presence of a doctor), then therapy is allowed only three days.
For patients who wear contact lenses, it is recommended to remove them before instillation. You can wear lenses thirty minutes after the procedure. A doctor's consultation is needed.
Features
According to the instructions for the use of "Levomycetin" for the eyes, when instilling, you must adhere to several rules:
- Check expiration date.
- Wash your hands well.
- Warm up a bottle of medicine in the palms.
- Shake the bottle. If there is a dispenser or pipette, you need to pull the lower eyelid, tilt your head and click on the bubble.
- After getting the solution, it is necessary to hold the inner corner of the eye with your finger so that the liquid does not leak.
- If after instillation of “Levomycetin” there was a sharp pain, burning sensation that does not go away for two minutes, then you need to rinse the eye with water and consult an ophthalmologist.
Complications in children
The instructions for use with Levomycetin for eye drops say that the drug can be used from four months of age, but the doctor can prescribe the medicine at an earlier age if it is not possible to eliminate the infection in other ways. In this case, the minimum dosage is set, increasing the dose can lead to disruption of protein production in the child's body. Therapy occurs under the supervision of a doctor.
It is important to monitor the general condition of the child after dropping. Excessive sensitivity of the child's body can cause "gray syndrome." This condition is characterized by respiratory failure, a decrease in body temperature and the appearance of a gray skin color. After there is a general poisoning, which provokes a malfunction in the cardiovascular system.
In babies, the following complications may occur:
- vomiting
- nausea;
- diarrhea;
- decrease in hemoglobin.
Side effects
Like most other drugs, Levomycetin has a number of adverse reactions:
- Thrombocytopenia (a condition characterized by a decrease in the number of platelets, which is accompanied by increased bleeding of wounds and problems with stopping bleeding).
- Leukopenia (a pathological condition associated with impaired hematopoiesis).
- Reticulocytopenia (a decrease in the number or absence of reticulocytes (reticulocytopenia) is observed with anemia caused by a lack of iron, vitamin B12, folic acid).
- Allergic reactions.
- Dystrophic process, accompanied by the separation of water in the early erythrocyte forms.
- Decreased blood hemoglobin levels.
- Nausea.
- Intermittent vomiting.
- Flatulence.
- Optic neuritis.
- Inflammation of the peripheral nerves.
- Headache.
- Insomnia.
The presence of adverse reactions is the basis for dose adjustment.
As a rule, these side effects are reversible and disappear immediately after drug withdrawal. In addition, according to the instructions and reviews, “Levomycetin” can cause the following negative reactions of the body to the active substance:
- clouding of consciousness;
- hearing impairment and blurred vision;
- motor impairment;
- peduncular hallucinosis (visual and auditory hallucinations);
- vomiting
- nausea
- diarrhea.
The use of drops in infants can cause cardiovascular collapse (a serious complication, usually ending in death).
Storage
The shelf life of Levomycetin tablets is three years, the powder for the preparation of the solution is four years, the eye drops are two years, and the open bottle can be stored for no more than one month.
Interaction with other drugs
According to the instructions for use, “Levomycetin” drops, together with other drugs, can enhance side effects. Therefore, drops are not combined with cytostatic drugs. When “Levomycetin” interacts with antibiotics that contain clindamycin and lincomycin, the effect of both agents will be weak. In addition, chloramphenicol reduces the therapeutic effect of penicillin antibiotics.
Reviews
On the use of “Levomycetin” in case of infectious eye diseases, only positive responses are found. Eye drops are praised for effective exposure and low cost. Reviews of many parents tell about the easy and simple use of the drug. But some mothers complain that "Levomycetin" nips the baby. In addition, in rare cases, children are allergic to drops.