Any qualified doctor prescribes antibiotics for injections or tablets for bronchitis. This inflammatory respiratory disease is fraught with serious complications, so you can not delay using antibacterial drugs. More often, injections of antibiotics for bronchitis are done intramuscularly, but in some cases - and intravenously. So, what drugs of this group are prescribed for this disease?
Why bronchitis should be treated with antibiotics
With bronchitis, the mucous membrane of the bronchi is inflamed - the paired organs that are part of the human respiratory system. With a cold or infectious disease, the mucosa is exposed to pathogenic microflora. With weakened immunity, the body becomes less resistant to certain types of bacteria, so antibacterial drugs come to the rescue. For each patient, they are selected individually, taking into account the age and severity of the disease.
What is more effective - pills or injections?
Treatment of the bacterial form of bronchitis in adults and children is a complex therapy, in which antibiotics play a leading role. If the disease is mild, patients are prescribed pills, if severe, injections will be more effective. In the presence of complications, the tablets may not give any therapeutic effect at all, since the drug has to go through a long stage of absorption through the stomach and intestines. Antibacterial substances enter the circulatory system immediately.
The Myth of Antibiotics for Injections
Many people think that intestinal dysbiosis develops after taking antibacterial drugs only if they are used in tablet form. Allegedly, oral preparations exhibit the same activity with respect to the pathogenic and beneficial intestinal microflora, and intravenous or intramuscular drugs do not affect the balance of bacteria, since they do not participate in processing processes in the gastrointestinal tract.
Probiotics and prebiotics necessary for the restoration of microflora are recommended to be taken in parallel with any antibiotics, regardless of their dosage form. The active substances contained in the preparations are distributed throughout the bloodstream and act on all bacteria in the body. The method of administration of the drug does not matter - both in injections and in tablets, antibiotics often cause intestinal dysbiosis.
When to do without injections
As a rule, most doctors try to avoid the use of antibiotics from the first days of the disease. With extreme caution, such drugs are prescribed at an early age. At first, mainly symptomatic drugs are prescribed in combination with physiotherapy, folk remedies.
When the condition worsens, therapists begin antibiotic treatment. First, the safest antibiotics of the penicillin group are prescribed. Such drugs are considered the most sparing and harmless, but in severe forms of bronchitis are ineffective.
Indications for the appointment of antibiotics in the form of injections for bronchitis are the following circumstances:
- deterioration of the clinical picture;
- lack of effect from taking antibacterial drugs in tablets;
- leukocytosis in blood tests;
- chronic and obstructive form of the disease, which increases the risk of transition to bronchial asthma;
- high body temperature, not amenable to the effects of antipyretic drugs;
- purulent sputum during coughing.
Antibiotics for children and the elderly
Antibiotics for injections for bronchitis in adults usually do not cause concern, but how to treat infants and elderly patients? Antibacterial drugs for diseases of the respiratory system are prescribed from the first months of life. Infants are physically unable to take drugs in pills. At an older age, instead of injections, children are prescribed syrups and medicinal suspensions, but injections can be avoided only with a mild form of the disease. Antibiotics in injections with bronchitis also perform another function, preventing the accession of secondary infections.
In old age, curing such a disease without antibacterial agents is quite difficult. The use of tablets usually does not give the expected result, since the immunity in the elderly is weakened. With bronchitis, elderly patients are prescribed drugs in injections, taking into account possible contraindications and limitations.
Injection intravenously or intramuscularly: which is more effective?
The choice of method of drug administration depends on the severity of the course of the disease. So, intravenous antibiotics for bronchitis are necessary if the patient needs immediate help and a quick result. In the presence of complications, intravenous injection is the only correct treatment option.
Intramuscular injections of antibiotics for bronchitis (the lists of drugs that are used most often will be presented in the following sections) are slower, but they are more effective because they remain longer in the body and are not washed out of it. Thanks to intramuscular injections, a kind of “stock” of the active substance is formed in the body, which for some time circulates in the circulatory system and destroys pathogenic agents.
The main groups of drugs
With bronchitis, patients can be prescribed completely different drugs, which depends on the type of pathogen, the severity of the disease, the individual characteristics of the body, age, etc. It is quite difficult to list all the names of antibiotics in the injections. Adults with bronchitis are prescribed some drugs, children - others. We note only the most basic drug groups, medicines of which are prescribed for this respiratory disease:
- penicillins;
- macrolides;
- cephalosporins;
- fluoroquinolones.
Penicillin drugs
The most popular representatives of this group, which are prescribed for bronchitis, are the following drugs:
- "Panklav";
- “Augmentin”;
- "Flemoxin Solutab."
Penicillins are the basic substances of a wide spectrum of action. Drugs from this group are active against most common pathogens. Penicillins, however, like other antibacterial drugs, are powerless against fungi. Against the background of the prolonged use of such antibiotics, the pathogenic flora develops immunity, so the drugs quickly lose their effectiveness. Penicillins have a minimum of contraindications and side effects, they are prescribed for infants and elderly patients.
Ampicillin
The drug is a wide spectrum of action, which is one of the most popular representatives of the group of semi-synthetic penicillins. Ampicillin is not available in ampoules: it is produced in the form of powder for injection. The action of the drug is aimed at the destruction of staphylococci, streptococci, pneumococci, meningococci and other gram-positive bacteria. With viral diseases, the medicine is useless.
For children, this drug is prescribed from the first month of life. Contraindications include:
- allergic reaction;
- kidney and liver diseases;
- peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum;
- blood diseases;
- Infectious mononucleosis;
- HIV
- lactation period.
Macrolide preparations
Unlike penicillins, drugs of this antibiotic series have a more powerful effect on the pathogenic flora, inhibiting protein synthesis and preventing the growth of bacteria. In addition, macrolides produce a bacteriostatic effect. This means that even those microbes that somehow do not die lose their ability to reproduce.
Among the drugs that are often prescribed for bronchitis in injections, it is worth noting:
- "Erythromycin";
- Clarithromycin;
- Macropen.
Rovamycin
This drug deserves special attention. "Rovamycin" for bronchitis is prescribed only for adults. The main component in the composition of this drug is spiramycin. This macrolide is effective against intracellular bacteria. Rovamycin tablets can be prescribed to children in the minimum dosage, injections with this drug can only be done by adults. Among the side effects that occur in patients, it is worth noting:
- nausea, vomiting, diarrhea;
- ulcerative esophagitis;
- acute colitis;
- thrombocytopenia;
- skin rash.
The drug often causes allergic reactions in the form of Quincke's edema, urticaria, and can provoke anaphylaxis. The analogues of “Rovamycin” are “Azimycin”, “Zitrocin”, “Clubax”, “Sumamycin”, Chemomycin ”.
Cephalosporins antibiotics
These drugs are used in therapeutic practice most often. Cephalosporins are modern antibiotics that kill the intracellular mechanisms of respiratory pathogens. The main disadvantage of this group of drugs is a significant number of side effects and contraindications. They are prescribed for both adults and children. Most cephalosporins are available in powder form for reconstitution of the drug solution.
Drugs of this group with intramuscular administration begin to act after 2.5-3 hours, and they reach a maximum concentration in the blood on average 20-30 minutes after injection.
Ceftriaxone
This tool quickly copes with the disease. Ceftriaxone is prescribed when penicillins or macrolides are powerless. For a long time, the drug can not be used. In addition, they are not used during a common cold. "Ceftriaxone" is usually prescribed in the presence of a serious inflammatory process, accompanied by high body temperature and other symptoms of bronchitis.
The instructions for use for ceftriaxone injections indicate the recommended dosage for intramuscular and intravenous infusions. In severe cases, patients are given droppers. For dilution of the powder of the drug using ordinary saline. Moreover, the use of this drug is determined individually for each patient.
Despite the fact that cephalosporins are more likely than other antibiotics to cause side effects, the drug rarely causes negative reactions. In the instructions for the use of Ceftriaxone injections, there are no recommendations on interrupting the course of treatment in case of rash or mild nausea. According to reviews, less than 2% of patients report the occurrence of adverse reactions. Against the background of taking the drug, the level of eosinophils in the blood sometimes rises, which can cause fever. Intramuscular injections of Ceftriaxone are painful; after the injection, headache and dizziness may occur.
"Cefazolin"
The analogue of Ceftriaxone is Cefazolin from the class of cephalosporins. The list of bacteria against which this drug is effective is quite impressive. With bronchitis, “Cefazolin” in injections is prescribed if the disease is caused by:
- Staphylococcus aureus;
- beta hemolytic streptococcal infection;
- diplococcus pneumoniae;
- Escherichia coli;
- Klebsiella;
- proteom;
- shigella;
- hemophilic bacillus;
- spirochete;
- treponema;
- Neisseria.
"Cefazolin" is administered intramuscularly or intravenously, after dissolving the required amount of powder in water for injection or "Lidocaine". The dosage and course of treatment is determined by the doctor, depending on the severity of the disease and the potential risk of infection.
Fluoroquinolones
With bronchitis, antibiotics of this group are prescribed in the most extreme cases, when other drugs do not have a strong enough effect against pathogenic agents. Such drugs work at the intracellular level, breaking down the DNA strands of bacteria. Of the representatives of the fluoroquinolone group, it is worth noting:
- Levofloxacin;
- Moxifloxacin;
- "Ciprofloxacin."
The latter drug may have many other trade names. One of them is Ciprinol. With bronchitis, this drug is prescribed only for adults, since it is difficult to tolerate and has many side effects. Eating slows down the absorption of the drug substance, so it is most often prescribed intramuscularly. “Ciprinol” is evenly distributed over the tissues and body fluids, while the highest concentration of the drug is observed in the organs of the respiratory system, kidneys, liver, and genitourinary tract in men and women.