Antibiotic amoxicillin was ineffective for the treatment of pneumonia
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
The infections of the lower respiratory tract are some of the most common diseases in developed countries. Although most of these infections, according to scientists and doctors, provoke viruses, there are no unambiguous answer to the question of whether antibiotics are effective in the fight against these infections. This topic causes hot discussions, and research in this direction gives conflicting results.
The antibiotic amoxicillin, which doctors often prescribe with simple infections of the lower dichanters (such as bronchitis, pneumonia ), was generally ineffective for the treatment of these diseases. In the course of a study conducted by the Southampton University and published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, it turned out that the use of this antibiotic brings to patients no more benefit than a placebo, that is, in no way he treats and does not relieve symptoms of pneumonia and bronchitis and other infections of the lower respiratory tract.
“Patients taking amoxicillin do not recover faster, and the symptoms of the disease are also not reliable in them,” says Paul Little, professor of Southampton University.
"In fact, the use of amoxicillin to treat respiratory infections in patients who have no suspicion of such a serious disease as pneumonia is unlikely to be expedient and can even harm. If you often take antibiotics that are prescribed by doctors with various common diseases, you can become a sacrifice of their side effects, such as diarrhea, vomiting and developing immunity to such drugs, ”explains Professor Little.
The study was attended by 2061 people with uncomplicated infections of the lower respiratory tract (without suspicion of pneumenia). The participants represented eleven European countries (the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia). For the week, some of these patients took amoxicillin three times a week, and the other part at this time gave placebo, that is, tablets without any useful or harmful properties. Doctors checked the condition of the patients at the beginning of the study, and then every day followed the symptoms of their diseases.
There was no significant difference in the duration of the symptoms of diseases in the first and second group of patients. Even in the elderly (over 60 years old), the effect of taking antibiotics was minimal.
The aggravation of the former and the appearance of new symptoms were recorded in 19.3% of patients taking placebo. Among those who took the antibiotic, this indicator was lower (15.9%), but at the same time those who took amoxicillin complained more about the side effects of drug treatment, including nausea, rash and diarrhea (28.7%versus 24%). "The cuttles of our study indicate that most people in infections of the lower respiratory tract, such as bronchitis and pneumonia, recover independently, without the help of antibiotics. But still a small number of patients benefit from amoxicillin, and now we need to find out what the peculiarity of this group of people," the Professor Littl summed up.
[