antibioticsbooks

Adverse
Consequences of
Antibiotic Use
5
Although antibiotics are undoubtedly one of the
most beneficial discoveries of science, their use does
carry risks. They can adversely affect patients by
eliciting allergic reactions, causing direct toxicity,
or altering the normal bacterial flora, leading to
superinfections with other organisms. Antibiotic
use is the primary driving force in the development
of antibiotic resistance, which can affect not only
the treated patients but other patients by transmission
of resistant organisms. It is important to keep
in mind all of these potential adverse consequences
when using antibiotics.
Antibiotic Allergy
Through formation of complexes with human proteins,
antibiotics can trigger immunologic reactions.
These reactions may manifest immediately (such
as anaphylaxis or hives) or be delayed (rashes,
serum sickness, drug fever). Because of their highly
reactive chemical structure and frequent use, betalactam
drugs are the most notorious group of drugs
for causing allergic reactions. It is difficult to determine
how likely it is that a patient with an allergy
to a particular antibiotic agent will have a similar
reaction to another agent within that class. While
some (highly debated) estimates of the degree of