Cephalosporins Health Article

Definition

Cephalosporins are medicines that kill bacteria or prevent their growth.

Purpose

Cephalosporins are used to treat infections in different parts of the body—the ears, nose, throat, lungs, sinuses, and skin, for example. Physicians may prescribe these drugs to treat pneumonia, strep throat, staph infections, tonsillitis, bronchitis, and gonorrhea. These drugs will not work for colds, flu, and other infections caused by viruses.

Description

Examples of cephalosporins are cefaclor (Ceclor), cefadroxil (Duricef), cefazolin (Ancef, Kefzol, Zolicef), cefixime (Suprax), cefoxitin (Mefoxin), cefprozil (Cefzil), ceftazidime (Ceptaz, Fortaz, Tazicef, Tazideme), cefuroxime (Ceftin) and cephalexin (Keflex). These medicines are available only with a physician's prescription. They are sold in tablet, capsule, liquid, and injectable forms.

Recommended dosage

The recommended dosage depends on the type of cephalosporin. Check with the physician who prescribed the drug or the pharmacist who filled the prescription for the correct dosage.

Always take cephalosporins exactly as directed by your physician. Never take larger, smaller, more frequent, or less frequent doses. Take the drug for exactly as long as directed—no more and no less. Do not save some doses of the drug to take for future infections. The medicine may not be right for other kinds of infections, even if the symptoms are the same. In addition, take all of the medicine to treat the infection for which it was prescribed. The infection may not clear up completely if too little medicine is taken. Taking this medicine for too long, on the other hand, may open the door to new infections that do not respond to the drug.

Some cephalosporins work best when taken on an empty stomach. Others should be taken after meals. Check with the physician who prescribed the medicine or the pharmacist who filled the prescription for instructions on how to take the medicine.

Precautions

Certain cephalosporins should not be combined with alcohol or with medicines that contain alcohol. Abdominal or stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, facial flushing, and other symptoms may result within 15–30 minutes and may last for several hours. Do not drink alcoholic beverages or use other medicines that contain alcohol while being treated with cephalosporins and for several days after treatment ends.