Doxycycline is an especially useful antibiotic because it is effective against certain bacteria that have developed resistance to other drugs. Doxycycline has been in use since 1967. It is chemically related to the antibiotic tetracycline, and was developed from it. Developed by Pfizer, it was first sold as Vibramycin, but is now dispensed under many names. It is used to treat disorders including pneumonia, urinary tract infections, prostatitis, chlamydia, acne and Lyme disease.
Doxycycline is often prescribed for travelers planning to visit regions where malaria is common. When taken before exposure, it acts as a prophylactic, helping protect users from contracting the disease. Patients are advised to begin taking the drug before they enter the region, continue taking it daily during their visit, and then continue to take it for four weeks or more after they return home.
People that contract malaria are also treated with doxycycline. In this case they are given the antibiotic in combination with other antimalarial drugs, because doxycycline acts to disrupt the disease agent’s reproduction, rather than directly killing it. This makes the antibiotic slow to act against malaria.
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Doxycycline is effective in several diseases transmitted by mites or ticks. In adult Lyme disease it is often the drug of choice in both acute and chronic disease. It is also effective against ehrlichiosis, a tick-borne disease that attacks white blood cells.
Doxycycline is one of the few antibiotics effective against Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a bacterial infection spread by ticks. Since few drugs are effective against this potentially fatal disease, doxycycline is even used in young children who have contracted it.
Otherwise, doctors are cautious about prescribing doxycycline in children under the age of 8. The antibiotic can disrupt bone development in very young children, and permanently stain their teeth. However, Doxycycline is prescribed for young children with anthrax, and in other serious diseases when choosing an effective treatment is paramount. Nursing mothers are also warned against using doxycycline because small amounts might be passed to their child.
Health care providers also caution patients to avoid taking dairy foods, calcium or iron supplements or laxatives that contain magnesium with this antibiotic. Such combinations are not dangerous, but may substantially weaken the drug’s effects. Patients are also cautioned to avoid sun exposure, which sometimes causes a rash in people taking Doxycycline. The rash disappears when patients finish their course of treatment.
Doxycycline is best known as an effective and well tolerated antibiotic effective against many human diseases. However, it is also prescribed for pets. Many happy owners have seen their beloved family dog restored to health by a course of doxycycline.
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