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What Medication Can One Take For Ear Infection When Allergic To Sulpha And Penicillin?

Posted on Tue, 8 Feb 2022

Question: my son has severe asthma. he just called because he has an ear infection and was prescribed cipro drops for in the ear use and amoxycillin caps by mouth. he is allergic to penicillin which is on record at the pharmacy where he lives out of state. they cautioned him. it is my understanding that cipro is a sulpha based med. Correct? I believe the drops are also mixed with a prednisone type med to reduce inflamation which makes sense. he tolerates anti inflamatories such as these. however, extremely allergic to penicillin since an infant. he is now 41. he called me to confirm not to take the amoxycillin. i told him absolutely not to take it. do you think the cipro drops will be okay????

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (16 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
probably yes

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

ciprofloxacin is a quinolone and should be OK to use. Penicillin allergy does not affect patients who take ciprofloxacin. If he's had a serious allergic reaction in the past including allergic shock (very low blood pressure), serious asthmatic attack, etc then using amoxicillin is strictly forbidden.

I hope you find my comments helpful!
Kind Regards!

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar