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Chapter 14 - Antibiotics during Pregnancy and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

from Section 2 - Infections in Pregnancy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2019

Adel Elkady
Affiliation:
Police Force Hospital, Cairo
Prabha Sinha
Affiliation:
Oman Medical College, Oman
Soad Ali Zaki Hassan
Affiliation:
Alexandria University
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Summary

Antibiotics are a group of medicines used for treating infections caused by bacteria and certain parasites but are not effective against viral or fungal infection.

They are also called antibacterial or antimicrobials and work by killing the organisms or stopping them from multiplying.

Antibiotics are commonly prescribed during pregnancy; however, the specific medication must be chosen carefully as most antibiotics might be safe while some are not.

Safety depends on various factors, including the type of antibiotic, gestational age, dose and duration of the use of the antibiotics.

They are usually grouped together based on mode of action as each only works against certain types of organisms; therefore, different antibiotics are used for different infections.

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