350 Where There Is No Doctor 2011 Green Pages
Information on Medicines
ANTIBIOTICS
THE PENICILLINS:
VERY IMPORTANT ANTIBIOTICS
Penicillin is one of the most useful antibiotics. It
fights certain kinds of infections, including many
that produce pus. It does no good for diarrhea,
most urinary infections, backache, bruises, the
common cold, chickenpox, or other virus infections
(see p. 18 and 19).
Penicillin is measured in milligrams (mg.) or units
(U.). For penicillin G, 250 mg. =400,000 U.
Risks and precautions
for all kinds of penicillin (including ampicillin and
amoxicillin):
For most people penicillin is one of the safest
medicines. Too much does no harm and only
wastes money. Too little does not completely stop
the infection and may make the bacteria resistant
(more difficult to kill).
In certain persons penicillin causes allergic
reactions. Mild allergic reactions include itchy
raised spots or rashes. Often these come several
hours or days after taking penicillin and may last for
days. Antihistamines (p. 385) help calm the itching.
Rarely, penicillin causes a dangerous reaction
called allergic shock. Soon after penicillin is
injected (or swallowed), the person suddenly gets
pale, has trouble breathing, and goes into the state
of shock (see p. 70). Epinephrine (Adrenalin) must
be injected at once.
Always have epinephrine ready when you
inject penicillin (see p. 385).
A person who has once had any allergic
reaction to penicillin should never be given any
kind of penicillin, ampicillin or amoxicillin again,
either by mouth or by injection. This is because
the next time the reaction would likely be far worse
and might kill him. (But stomach upset from taking
penicillin is not an allergic reaction, and no cause
to stop taking it.)
Persons who cannot take penicillin can
sometimes be treated with tetracycline or
erythromycin by mouth (see pages 355 and 356 for
uses and precautions).
Most infections that can be treated with penicillin
can be treated quite well with penicillin taken
by mouth. Injected forms of penicillin are more
dangerous than those taken by mouth.
Use injectable penicillin only for severe or
dangerous infections.
Before injecting penicillin or any medicine that
contains it, take the precautions given on page 70.
Resistance to penicillin:
Sometimes penicillin does not work against an
infection it would normally control. This may be
because the bacteria have become resistant, so
that penicillin no longer harms them (see p. 58).
Nowadays, infections that are at times resistant
to penicillin include impetigo, sores on the skin
with pus, respiratory infections, breast infections
(mastitis) and infections of the bone (osteomyelitis).
If one of these infections does not respond to
ordinary penicillin, another antibiotic may be tried.
Or special forms of penicillin, (methicillin, nafcillin,
oxacillin, cloxacillin, dicloxacillin) may work. Consult
a health worker for dosage and precautions.
In many parts of the world, gonorrhea and
other sexually transmitted infections are now
resistant to penicillin; see p. 359 for other
antibiotics. Pneumonia is also sometimes resistant
to penicillin—try cotrimoxazole (p. 357) or
erythromycin (p. 354).