The recent suicide of a 22 year old boy from Campania has raised attention towards a specific class of drugs. The hypothesis, in fact, is that the side effects of the drugs caused the extreme gesture fluoroquinolone antibiotics which he had taken to treat a serious urinary tract infection, as he reports The Morning. Before the tragic event, the boy had shared his state of mind and confided his suffering to a friend he met on the Facebook group Fluoroquinolones – Support group for those injured by antibiotics, saying he could no longer bear the intense pain in his limbs, panic attacks and neurological problems. These symptoms, as emerged from the testimonies of other members of the group, would not be uncommon among those taking fluoroquinolones, suggesting a common risk of serious side effects.
Fluoroquinolones: what they are and when they should be used
«Fluoroquinolones (i.e. the active ingredients Ciprofloxacin, Delafloxacin, Gemifloxacin, Levofloxacin, Moxifloxacin, Norfloxacin, Ofloxacin) are a class of wide-ranging antibioticsvery effective for treating cases of fairly serious or serious infections, such as some types of pneumonia, meningitis and bacterial encephalitis, urinary tract infections for which other pharmacological therapies have not been found to be effective enough”, explains the Doctor Annalisa Gasco, Director of Mauriziano Hospital Pharmacy in Turin. «Precisely because of the potentials serious side effectstheir use is strictly regulated. The use of fluoroquinolones should only be considered in second or third measurei.e. when other less risky antibiotics are not effective. The recommendation is to use them only in situations where the risk of complications outweighs the potential side effects, and to avoid their use for mild infections or those that can resolve without treatment.”
AIFA warnings
Already in 2019, AIFA had anyway not recommended the use of this class of antibiotics, inviting doctors to consider them as drugs to be used only in second and also in third measurein case the most widely used antibiotics had not produced positive results on the patient.
«That’s it first warning had significantly decreased the use of this type of antibiotics”, comments Gasco. There second note issued by AIFA in April 2023, he reiterates to healthcare workers that «the use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics administered orally, by injection or inhalation must be limited due to the risk of disabling, long-lasting and potentially irreversible side effects.”
The same note then lists the cases in which fluoroquinoloics Not must be used: «fluoroquinolone antibiotics must be avoided in the patients That have previously had serious side effects with a fluoroquinolone or quinolone antibiotic. They must be used with particularity caution in the elderly peoplein the patients with kidney disease and in those who have undergone an organ transplant because these patients are at greater risk of tendon damage. Since even the use of a corticosteroid (cortisone) with a fluoroquinolone increases this risk, the combined use of these medicines should be avoided.”
Why side effect problems persist and how to proceed correctly with taking fluoroquinolone
Yet, despite the warnings expressed in very clear words from official sourcesthe problems on side effects resulting from the use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics partly remain, also leading, as in the case of the 22-year-old, to extreme consequences. Dr. Gasco, attempting to make hypotheses on the cases of patients reporting irreversible damage, such as rupture of the Achilles tendon or permanent damage to the limbs, hypothesizes: «Although what Aifa both, in the healthcare environment, law, evidently there are still doctors who prescribe the fluoroquinolone without asking too many problems. Or we can imagine people who, already having these antibiotics at home, prescribed for other conditions or pathologies, and having already taken them without having encountered any problems, reuse them on their own initiative. The message that must pass”continues the specialist «is instead to always obtain a medical/clinical opinion before taking antibiotics based on fluoroquinolone, which by the way this applies in general to all antibiotics.” Furthermore, it recommends: «in case of symptoms that they arise even after taking a single dose of the drug is fine discontinue use immediately And contact your doctor or emergency room immediately”.
Be careful not to demonize antibiotics
However, it is important Don’t create alarmism and «promote the correct use of antibiotics, without demonizing them», concludes Dr. Gasco, «even if they are currently used very widely, often improperly, which is raising the so-called antibiotic resistanceresulting in an increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. If prescribed and taken at the right times and times, antibiotics have always been used harm positive effects and are effective for the treatment of many pathologies.”
Sources:
AIFA Important Information Note Agreed
With the European Regulatory Authorities E
The Italian Medicines Agency
Source: Vanity Fair
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