Common antibiotic linked to 'tiny' rise in heart deaths
Conclusion
The conclusion that the risk of cardiac death during the use of clarithromycin is 76% higher than that for penicillin V was based on a small number of cardiac deaths. In fact, it occurred during 0.01% of prescriptions of clarithromycin, compared with 0.005% during prescriptions for penicillin V.
A death rate just a bit higher than a very small death rate is still very small. This means that from an individual point of view, the risk of cardiac death from taking either antibiotic is minimal.
This study does not prove clarithromycin caused any cardiac deaths. It only showed a very small increased risk of cardiac death in the seven days after the prescription was collected in a select group of people. This did not include:
antibiotic use in hospitals
people with serious illnesses
long-term prophylactic use (to prevent infections), such as for those who are immunocompromised
people who did not improve and required an alternative antibiotic
The study also has several other limitations, including:
major risk factors for cardiac death, such as smoking and obesity, were not taken into account
the reason for taking each antibiotic was not known – clarithromycin is used for more types of infections than penicillin V, which may have influenced the results
clarithromycin is commonly used for people who are allergic to penicillin, but this factor was not assessed in the study
it was assumed that people who collected their pres...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Medical practice Source Type: news
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