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Cough, Yellow Sputum Formation, On Levofloxacin. Side Affects?

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Posted on Thu, 24 May 2012
Question: I have been suffering from cough and yellow sputum formation for last 3 days and have been given livofloxacin . Chest has no congestion. However, I checked from the internet and came to know that this medicine has a large number of severe side effects. can you please amplify?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Jasvinder Singh (41 minutes later)
Hi,

Thanks for posting the query.

Levofloxacin belongs to a class of drugs called quinolones.

This has been a very old class of drugs in use for the past several years. Levofloxacin is a very commonly used drug and we use it in our clinical practice routinely for the respiratory tract infections and for due to the fact that at the time the drug is being developed and tested on human beings, every complaint of every subject is noted as a side effect even if it is seen in 1 subject out of a 1000 subjects.

Hence, my suggestion is to use this drug without worrying about the side effects. Some patients may have a slight nausea, diarrhea or light headedness but majority tolerate this drug well. Hope this answers your query.

If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.

Wishing you good health.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Ashwin Bhandari
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Jasvinder Singh (51 minutes later)
Thanks for your reply. But I got worried as the wikipedia site says that this drug is used to treat severe or life-threatening bacterial infections or bacterial infections that have failed to respond to other antibiotic classesfor the side effects and the side effects are associated with a number of serious and life-threatening adverse reactions as well as spontaneous tendon ruptures and irreversible peripheral neuropathy. Such reactions may manifest long after therapy had been completed and in severe cases may result in life-long disabilities.

So, my question is why give such a drug for a simple infection, which probably can be cured by Ciproflox or axithral, which probably do not have such life threatening adverse reactions.

Regards
doctor
Answered by Dr. Jasvinder Singh (7 hours later)
Hi XXXXXXX

Thanks for posting your query. Levofloxacin is from the same class as the ciprofloxacin and is quite a safe drug. We routinely use it in our clinical practice for upper respiratory tract infections.

Fortunately, none of my patients has suffered from the serious side effects which you've mentioned.

Probably, these are rare side effects. As mentioned earlier, even if a single patient has such a side effect in the clinical trials, it is reported in the side effect profile of the drug.

You are unnecessarily being a little too scary about the same. The drugs get drug regulatory authority approvals only after they have been proven safe for human use.

If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.

Wishing you good health.
Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T
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Answered by
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Dr. Jasvinder Singh

Internal Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :1998

Answered : 1578 Questions

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Cough, Yellow Sputum Formation, On Levofloxacin. Side Affects?

Hi,

Thanks for posting the query.

Levofloxacin belongs to a class of drugs called quinolones.

This has been a very old class of drugs in use for the past several years. Levofloxacin is a very commonly used drug and we use it in our clinical practice routinely for the respiratory tract infections and for due to the fact that at the time the drug is being developed and tested on human beings, every complaint of every subject is noted as a side effect even if it is seen in 1 subject out of a 1000 subjects.

Hence, my suggestion is to use this drug without worrying about the side effects. Some patients may have a slight nausea, diarrhea or light headedness but majority tolerate this drug well. Hope this answers your query.

If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.

Wishing you good health.