antibiotic drug

[missE]

Hi! I was taking care of a 2 yo patient with upper respiratory infection, pneumonia, and sickle cell anemia. she is on a macrolide antibiotic called azithromycin and was curious as to why she is on this type rather than another form of antibiotic. this is my first rotation with ped's so any help would be great!

[anonymousstudent]

Azithromycin is a common medication for upper respiratory infections and pneumonia. It targets the bacteria more specifically.

The goal of any antibiotic therapy is to use the best matched antibiotic for the specific bacteria. If they aren't sure you'll see a broad spectrum antibiotic thrown at the patient just to cover all of the bases, but that's really not the best solution. If you dig back in your brain to your micro class, you'll remember gram + and gram - antibiotics and how they don't have the ability to kill all bacteria.

[missE]

thanks for the help. ya i was looking the drug up and i did see the different spectrums of gram (+) and gram (-) bacteria that this drug would treat and there are many bacteria that this drug has therapeutical effects on (hence the broad spectrum antibiotic you were talking about).. thanks again for the fast reply back too

[missE]

so another question... why would she be on another antibiotic such as cefotaxime (cephalosporin) if she is already on azithromycin being that this antibiotic covers a large spectrum of bacteria?