UAE | Health
Health ministry says 'risky antibiotic' is a restricted drug
An antibiotic used to treat severe infections, recently linked to a higher risk of death, is already restricted in the UAE, posing little cause for concern, health authorities have assured.
- By Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 March 21, 2007
Dubai: An antibiotic used to treat severe infections, recently linked to a higher risk of death, is already restricted in the UAE, posing little cause for concern, health authorities have assured.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety alert to infectious disease specialists on antibiotic linezolid, sold under brand name Zyvox by Pfizer Inc, after a clinical trial found a higher chance of death in seriously ill patients with bloodstream infections. The drug, which is available only through hospitals in the UAE, has not been licensed to treat bloodstream infections.
Dr Ahmad Al Haj, internal medicine specialist at Rashid Hospital, told Gulf News that the drug was already being used very sparingly.
"It's not a drug every physician can get his hands on. It is only used for infections that are life-threatening," he said, adding that the drug's cost also restricted its use.
Severe infections
He said doctors usually used linezolid to treat only gramme positive staph infections, which can cause pneumonia and meningitis, and severe drug-resistant infections.
The open-label, randomised clinical trial found that the higher risk of death was related to the type of organism causing intravascular catheter-related bloodstream infections.
Patients with gramme positive infections had no difference in mortality rate, but patients with both gramme positive and negative organisms, or who had no infection upon entering the study had a higher chance of dying. Dr Ram Shukla, infectious disease specialist with the Health Ministry, added that most of the severe drug-resistant infections linezolid treats were hospital-acquired infections, which can be deadly to patients with compromised immune system.
"We have to weigh our options and see if we can save the life while keeping the side effects in mind. It's a last resort drug," he said.
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