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Can Clarithromycin Be Taken For Bladder Infection?
Question: Does clarithromycin help bladder infection ?
As I have been taking this for 3 weeks with little or no result
As I have been taking this for 3 weeks with little or no result
Brief Answer:
Clarithromycin is not typically a first line antibiotic for a UTI.
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
Clarithromycin and metronidazole are not commonly used to treat most urinary tract infections. More typical antibiotics for bladder infections are trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, nitrofurantoin, and ciprofloxin.
When a urinalysis shows the likelihood of a bladder infection, the urine should be sent for a culture and sensitivity test. The culture will show what bacteria is causing the infection. The sensitivity test uses a battery of different antibiotics against that cultured bacteria and tests which ones the bacteria is sensitive to. By sensitive, it means it kills the bacteria in the petri dish. Different antibiotics may be given a rating of sensitive, resistant, or something in-between, such as partially sensitive/resistant.
It is common practice that when a person comes in with symptoms of a UTI and the urinalysis looks like an infection, to start the patient on an antibiotic (usually one of the three I mentioned above), and send the urine sample for a culture and sensitivity test. This can take a couple of days. Then, if the antibiotic doesn't seem to be working well enough, there is specific information of which antibiotic WOULD work.
Does this information help clarify the situation?
Clarithromycin is not typically a first line antibiotic for a UTI.
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
Clarithromycin and metronidazole are not commonly used to treat most urinary tract infections. More typical antibiotics for bladder infections are trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, nitrofurantoin, and ciprofloxin.
When a urinalysis shows the likelihood of a bladder infection, the urine should be sent for a culture and sensitivity test. The culture will show what bacteria is causing the infection. The sensitivity test uses a battery of different antibiotics against that cultured bacteria and tests which ones the bacteria is sensitive to. By sensitive, it means it kills the bacteria in the petri dish. Different antibiotics may be given a rating of sensitive, resistant, or something in-between, such as partially sensitive/resistant.
It is common practice that when a person comes in with symptoms of a UTI and the urinalysis looks like an infection, to start the patient on an antibiotic (usually one of the three I mentioned above), and send the urine sample for a culture and sensitivity test. This can take a couple of days. Then, if the antibiotic doesn't seem to be working well enough, there is specific information of which antibiotic WOULD work.
Does this information help clarify the situation?
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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