Health professionals in Alabama are pulling a popular antibiotic off the shelves following an investigation by a state agency.
The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) is looking into eleven reports, which have occurred in the last few months, of adverse events following injections with the cephalosporin antibiotic ceftriaxone (Rocephin®).
The state health department reports the agency is working with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion.
ADPH says the people experiencing the adverse events had a variety of comorbid conditions and no specific causal link between ceftriaxone and these reactions has been identified at this time.
Out of caution, the department will continue to collaborate with healthcare partners to investigate "the possibility of epidemiologic links between these events or in connection to receipt of injections of this antibiotic, related diluting substances, or steroid medications often administered in conjunction with antibiotics in healthcare settings."
Some of the cases reviewed have had signs and symptoms compatible with anaphylactic reaction, including hives, pruritis, hypotension and hypoxia— which have been successfully treated with measures for anaphylaxis.
ADPH reports that "while investigation is ongoing, it is important to keep in mind that, as with any injectable antibiotic, allergic reactions can occur, and measure should be taken to monitor and respond appropriately to such reactions."
The department continued, saying in a press release, "Cephalosporins, such as ceftriaxone, can cause allergic reaction between 0.5% to 2.5% of patients. See the links below to American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology."
ADPH advised healthcare providers to report potential adverse events related to ceftriaxone at https://redcap.link/AdverseEventReport or to the FDA at MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program | FDA.
