Common antibiotics tied to eye emergencies: study

A common class of antibiotics was linked to a higher risk of so-called retinal detachment - when the light-sensitive tissue in the eye separates from gel that fills the eyeball, in a new Canadian study.

People treated by ophthalmologists for the emergency condition were five times more likely to be taking drugs known as fluoroquinolones, which include ciprofloxacin (marketed under names including Zoxan, Proquin and Cipro) and levofloxacin (Levaquin, Cravit), than those who didn't have retinal detachment.

"We know that these drugs are toxic to connective tissue and cartilage," said Mahyar Etminan, the study's lead author, noting past studies linking fluoroquinolones with damage to Achilles and shoulder tendons.

"We wanted to see whether this damage also may translate in the eye, because there's lots of connective tissue in the eye," Etminan, from the Child and Family Research Institute of British Columbia in Vancouver, told Reuters Health.

Retinal detachment, which starts as the appearance of lines, dots or "floaters" across the eye, can cause permanent blindness in some cases if it's not surgically treated within a few days.

What is Zoxan used for?

Zoxan tablets 500mg are an antibiotic medication used to treat severe and potentially life threatening bacterial infections, caused by a wide range of susceptible bacteria in various parts of the body. Conditions that Zoxan tablets 500mg are used for include: respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia and Legionnaire's disease; urinary tract infections; sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhoea; infections of the genital organs, such as prostatitis; gastro-intestinal tract infections and intra-abdominal infections, like peritonitis; infections of the skin, soft tissue, bone and joints; and long lasting or recurring ear or sinus infections. Zoxan 500 is also used to prevent infection or slow bacterial growth after anthrax inhalation exposure, to treat sepsis, (septic shock caused by bacterial infection), bacteremia (bacteria in the blood circulation) and to treat infections in immunocompromised patients.

How does Zoxan work?

Zoxan tablets 500mg contain ciprofloxacin which belongs to the fluoroquinolones group of antibiotics and is a synthetic broad spectrum antibiotic with antibacterial activity against a wide range of bacteria including, Legionella, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus Listeria and Chlamydia. Ciprofloxacin in Zoxan 500 inhibits several bacterial enzymes needed for the bacteria to replicate its DNA which kills the bacteria by blocking its growth. Zoxan tablets 500mg do not work against viruses which use a different mechanism to grow and replicate.

Etminan and his colleagues used data from doctors' treatment records for everyone in British Columbia who saw an ophthalmologist between 2000 and 2007 - almost one million patients. That included about 4,400 people diagnosed with retinal detachment when they were an average of 61 years old.