Widely Used Antibiotics May Raise Heart Risks
Macrolides were linked to small, but significant, chances of sudden cardiac death
To put the findings into perspective, one in 8,500 patients treated with macrolides could develop a serious heart rhythm problem and one in 30,000 might die, Dr. Sami Viskin, from the Tel Aviv Medical Center and Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University in Israel, explained in an accompanying journal editorial.
Viskin said macrolides are a first-line treatment for a number of infections.
"Today, when antimicrobial resistance represents a major threat to global health and new treatment options are frighteningly few, losing an entire class of antibiotics would represent a major setback in the fight against infections. Furthermore, it takes years to fully understand the consequences of a drug's disappearance," Viskin wrote.
Widely Used Antibiotics May Raise Heart Risks
Macrolides were linked to small, but significant, chances of sudden cardiac death
To put the findings into perspective, one in 8,500 patients treated with macrolides could develop a serious heart rhythm problem and one in 30,000 might die, Dr. Sami Viskin, from the Tel Aviv Medical Center and Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University in Israel, explained in an accompanying journal editorial.
Viskin said macrolides are a first-line treatment for a number of infections.
"Today, when antimicrobial resistance represents a major threat to global health and new treatment options are frighteningly few, losing an entire class of antibiotics would represent a major setback in the fight against infections. Furthermore, it takes years to fully understand the consequences of a drug's disappearance," Viskin wrote.
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