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Types of Antibiotics
- Thread starter Bubbalove
- Start date
As far as I know, there are only generic guidelines for treating stuff with antibiotics (i.e., when a certain class is known not to affect a certain germ). Anything above that, you need to isolate the germ and hit it with something in-vitro, to see whether it dies off. But for a general rundown of the different classes of antibiotics, see <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.anti-biotic.com/antibact.html">here</a> or <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.emedicinehealth.com/articles/11387-2.asp">here</a>.
Docs will generally try to use the least harmful, least toxic antibiotics first, obviously. Cephalosporins (Keflex, Ceftin, etc.) and penicillins (Amoxicillin, etc.) are a decent first choice, but with the types of organisms CF patients culture, they often don't work by default. Sulfa drugs like SMZ-TMP (Bactrim) and macrolide antibiotics like Clarithromycin (Biaxin) are a perennial favorite, and often work better, but the really heavy hitters tend to be among the fluoroquinolones (Cipro, Levaquin, Floxin) and aminoglycosides (Tobramycin, Gentamicin). Vancomycin is considered somewhat of a treatment of last resort for many infections, as it's notoriously toxic. Also, some germs are now immune to it, too.
Your signature says you're Anthony's girlfriend; I assume you have, or are planning to, tag along on one of his doctor's visits and try to get some info there? That would be my recommendation, as it would be much more specific and probably useful than anything we could advise on a webpage, without knowing the exact minutiae of his illness as a doctor would (or for most of us, the formal training, for that matter).
Good luck.
Docs will generally try to use the least harmful, least toxic antibiotics first, obviously. Cephalosporins (Keflex, Ceftin, etc.) and penicillins (Amoxicillin, etc.) are a decent first choice, but with the types of organisms CF patients culture, they often don't work by default. Sulfa drugs like SMZ-TMP (Bactrim) and macrolide antibiotics like Clarithromycin (Biaxin) are a perennial favorite, and often work better, but the really heavy hitters tend to be among the fluoroquinolones (Cipro, Levaquin, Floxin) and aminoglycosides (Tobramycin, Gentamicin). Vancomycin is considered somewhat of a treatment of last resort for many infections, as it's notoriously toxic. Also, some germs are now immune to it, too.
Your signature says you're Anthony's girlfriend; I assume you have, or are planning to, tag along on one of his doctor's visits and try to get some info there? That would be my recommendation, as it would be much more specific and probably useful than anything we could advise on a webpage, without knowing the exact minutiae of his illness as a doctor would (or for most of us, the formal training, for that matter).
Good luck.
Thank you so much - I have actually tagged along on doctors visits- but I feel like his Dr. isn't straight with anything- he doesnt answer a question and wont give us a lot of information too.. I think my boyfriend is planning on maybe changing.. we need to see at his next visit- and then we are going to decide.
The best way to determine what antibiotic is going to deal with what bacteria is to do a sensitivity screen.
They do this routinely at the U of MN clinic - they culture the sputum sample, determine what bacteria strains are growing in it. They then test those bacteria against a panel of antibiotics and determine levels of sensitivity and resistance. This lets the doctor select a group of antibiotics that the patient's particular group of flora is going to respond to best.
So really - the answer to your question is... Yes, you can determine what antibiotics they are likely to use (like - tobramycin for pseudomonas aeruginosa). However, the antibiotics finally selected for care may be determined by a sensitivity screen (and in some cases a synergy screen - to determine if particular combinations of antibiotics are super effective - ones that will give more than a "cumulative" effect).
They do this routinely at the U of MN clinic - they culture the sputum sample, determine what bacteria strains are growing in it. They then test those bacteria against a panel of antibiotics and determine levels of sensitivity and resistance. This lets the doctor select a group of antibiotics that the patient's particular group of flora is going to respond to best.
So really - the answer to your question is... Yes, you can determine what antibiotics they are likely to use (like - tobramycin for pseudomonas aeruginosa). However, the antibiotics finally selected for care may be determined by a sensitivity screen (and in some cases a synergy screen - to determine if particular combinations of antibiotics are super effective - ones that will give more than a "cumulative" effect).