2023-11-28 23:01:38
Oliver Naumann looks somewhat bleary-eyed as he stands in the pharmacy and hands the PTA a prescription for his little son Maxim. “You are the third pharmacy I have tried. I hope you can help me.” The PTA smiles and looks at the recipe. “Oh, the combination of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid is really hard to get with the current supply shortages. But I think we’re lucky today.”
When the PTA places the medication they were looking for on the AGM table, the young father lets out a sigh of relief. “You can’t imagine what a night we’ve had. Maxim was constantly screaming and covering his ears. Then came the fever. We carried him around most of the night because he might only sleep while we held him in our arms. Now all of us, not just Maxim, are completely wiped out.”
background
The PTA is no stranger to stories like these. And earaches hurt terribly, and not just for small children. “Fever and sudden, stabbing ear pain are the typical symptoms of acute otitis media, i.e. a middle ear infection. It often occurs as part of an ascending respiratory tract infection and is accompanied by fatigue as a result of the inflammation, as well as temporary dizziness and hearing loss.
More than half of all children develop it within the first six years of life. It is particularly common in the youngest children because their auditory tuba is not yet fully developed. This is the connection between the tympanic cavity behind the eardrum and the nasopharynx.
When this tube becomes clogged during an infection, a purulent secretion collects behind the eardrum and bulges outward, causing stabbing pain in the ear. They then stop suddenly as soon as the secretion can flow away. However, this often happens when the eardrum ruptures.”
“That sounds terrible,” remarks Mr. Naumann and asks worriedly whether his son would then become deaf in that ear. “Fortunately, this only creates a very small hole in the eardrum, which closes once more within a few days without scarring. However, you shouldn’t take it as a risk, as small children are known to have such infections more often. And if everything goes wrong, the secretion finds its way into the inside of the skull.”
When she sees the horror on the customer’s face, the PTA quickly calms things down: “Fortunately, most illnesses progress without complications.”
Hints
Maxim’s father asks: “Can you tell me something regarding the effect of the medication?”
Like penicillin, the antibiotic amoxicillin is a beta-lactam antibiotic and impairs the cell wall synthesis of bacteria. To protect once morest this attack, resistant bacteria produce the enzyme beta-lactamase, which destroys the central structure of the antibiotic, the beta-lactam ring.
To circumvent this resistance, clavulanic acid is added. Although it does not have a significant antibacterial effect, it has the same basic structure as amoxicillin and employs at least some of the beta-lactamases in its place. The dosage of the combination is chosen so that a sufficiently high antibiotic effectiveness can still be expected.
“In addition to the effect, the side effects are of course also relevant,” adds the PTA. “The most common symptoms are diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. If there are any indications of an allergic reaction, you should contact your doctor immediately and switch to another therapy, as severe hypersensitivity reactions such as anaphylactoid shock are possible.”
1701214551
#Freshup #series #amoxicillin #clavulanic #acid