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STUDIES ON CHLORAMPHENICOL
Author(s) -
Hughes D. W. O'Gorman
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1973.tb130043.x
Subject(s) - chloramphenicol , toxicity , medicine , neutropenia , leukopenia , antibiotics , physiology , gastroenterology , pediatrics , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
In a study of 76 infants and children receiving chloramphenicol for 10 to 76 days, hyperferrsemia occurred in 36 and hæmopoietic toxicity in 21. The earliest evidence of hyperferræmia was detected in most between the sixth and sixteenth day of therapy. Factors associated with an increased risk of toxicity were doses of chloramphenicol exceeding 2,000 mg per square metre daily for more than five days, increasing age of the child and serum levels of free chloramphenicol exceeding 15 μg/ml, 5 to 6 hours after a dose. In 15 patients with toxicity, chloramphenicol was continued and 10 received additional phenylalanine or riboflavine. The variable pattern of erythropoietic recovery suggested that improvement was more likely to be spontaneous than attributable to these agents. Erythropoietic recovery during therapy was more likely if the reticulocyte count exceeded 0.5% and the myeloid: erythroid ratio was less than 10:1. However, the development of neutropenia or thrombocytopenia was of sinister significance and should prompt the withdrawal of chloramphenicol.