tazocin

How does it work?

Tazocin injection contains two active ingredients; piperacillin, which is a penicillin-type antibiotic, and tazobactam, which is a medicine that prevents bacteria from inactivating piperacillin. The injection is used to treat infections with bacteria.

Piperacillin is an antibiotic that has the ability to kill a wide variety of bacteria. It works by interfering with the formation of bacterial cell walls. It does this by preventing the bacteria forming vital cross-links within their cell walls. These cross-links strengthen the cell walls and allow them to protect the bacteria from their environment. By interfering with the cross-linking meshwork in the cell walls, piperacillin weakens them.

The cell walls of bacteria are essential for their survival. They protect the bacteria from the environment and keep unwanted substances from entering the cells. As piperacillin weakens the cell walls, it allows unwanted substances to enter the bacterial cells. This causes the cells to swell and eventually rupture, and kills the bacteria.

Certain bacteria are resistant to penicillin-type antibiotics, because they have developed the ability to produce defensive chemicals. These chemicals are called beta-lactamases. They interfere with the structure of penicillin-type antibiotics and stop them from working.

Tazobactam is a type of medicine known as a beta-lactamase inhibitor. It is included in this medicine because it inhibits the action of the beta-lactamases produced by in defence by certain bacteria. This prevents the bacteria from inactivating the piperacillin, and leaves them susceptible to attack. Tazobactam therefore increases the range of bacteria that piperacillin can kill.

Tazocin is given by injection or infusion (drip) into a vein. It is used to treat severe infections, including those caused by multiple organisms.

To make sure the bacteria causing an infection are susceptible to Tazocin, your doctor may take a tissue sample, for example a swab from the throat or skin, or a urine or blood sample, so that the infecting bacteria can be identified. However, due to its broad spectum of activity, this antibiotic can also be useful for starting treatment for severe infections before the results of microscopy and culture are known.

What is it used for?

In adults and children over 12 years of age:

• Bacterial infections of the lungs and airways (chest or lower respiratory tract infections).
• Bacterial infections within the abdomen.
• Bacterial infections of the urinary tract.
• Bacterial infections of the skin.
• Bacterial infections of the blood (septicaemia or blood poisoning).
• Bacterial infections in people with a low white blood cell count (neutropenia) and hence decreased ability to fight infection (used in combination with an aminoglycoside antibiotic for this purpose).

In children under 12 years of age:

• Appendicitis complicated by a burst appendix, peritonitis and/or abscess formation in children aged 2 to 12 years.
• Bacterial infections in children with a low white blood cell count (neutropenia) and hence decreased ability to fight infection (used in combination with an aminoglycoside antibiotic for this purpose).

Warning!

• During long-term treatment with this medicine your doctor may want to take routine blood tests to monitor your kidney function, liver function, levels of blood cells and levels of salts such as sodium and potassium in your blood.
• Broad-spectrum antibiotics can sometimes cause inflammation of the bowel (colitis). For this reason, if you get diarrhoea either during or after treatment with this medicine, particularly if it becomes severe or persistent, or contains blood or mucus, you should tell your doctor immediately.

Use with caution in

• Decreased kidney function.
• History of allergies.
• People on a low sodium diet.
• People with low levels of potassium in their blood (hypokalaemia).

Not to be used in

• People allergic to penicillin or cephalosporin-type antibiotics.
• People allergic to beta-lactamase inhibitors.

This medicine should not be used if you are allergic to one or any of its ingredients. Please inform your doctor or pharmacist if you have previously experienced such an allergy.If you feel you have experienced an allergic reaction, stop using this medicine and inform y our doctor or pharmacist immediately.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

Certain medicines should not be used during pregnancy or breastfeeding. However, other medicines may be safely used in pregnancy or breastfeeding providing the benefits to the mother outweigh the risks to the unborn baby. Always inform your doctor if you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, before using any medicine.

• The safety of this medicine during pregnancy has not been fully established.The manufacturer recommends it should only be used in pregnant women if the expected benefit to the mother is greater than any possible risk to the developing baby. Seek medical advice from your doctor.
• This medicine passes into breast milk in small amounts. The manufacturer recommends it should only be used in breastfeeding mothers if the expected benefit to the mother is greater than any possible risk to the nursing infant. Seek medical advice from your doctor.

Side effects

Medicines and their possible side effects can affect individual people in different ways. The following are some of the side effects that are known to be associated with this medicine. Just because a side effect is stated here, it does not mean that all people using this medicine will experience that or any side effect.

Prolonged treatment with antibiotics can sometimes cause overgrowth of other organisms that are not susceptible to the antibiotic, for example fungi or yeasts such as Candida. This may sometimes cause infections such as thrush. Tell your doctor if you think you have developed a new infection during or after treatment with this antibiotic.

• Diarrhoea.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Rash.
• Decrease in the numbers of white blood cells or platelets in the blood.
• Headache.
• Difficulty sleeping (insomnia).
• Low blood pressure (hypotension).
• Inflammation of the wall of a vein with a blood clot forming in the affected segment of vein (thrombophlebitis).
• Constipation.
• Indigestion.
• Sore mouth.
• Yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice).
• Fever.
• Inflammation of the large intestine (colitis) - see warning section above.
• Reactions at injection site.
• Skin reactions such as itching, hives, flushing, eczema.
• Severe allergic skin rashes.
• Severe allergic reactions, eg anaphylaxis.
• Inflammation of the liver (hepatitis).
• Fatigue.
• Muscle pain and weakness.
• Hallucinations.
• Convulsions.

The side effects listed above may not include all of the side effects reported by the medicine's manufacturer. For more information about any other possible risks associated with this medicine, please read the information provided with the medicine or consult your doctor or pharmacist.

How can this medicine affect other medicines?

It is important to tell your doctor or pharmacist what medicines you are already taking, including those bought without a prescription and herbal medicines, before you start treatment with this medicine, so they can check that the combination is safe.

In the past, women using hormonal contraception such as the pill or patch would be advised to use an extra method of contraception (eg condoms) while having treatment with an antibiotic like this one and for seven days after finishing the course. However, this advice has now changed. You no longer need to use an extra method of contraception with the pill, patch or vaginal ring while you have a course of antibiotics. This change in advice comes because to date there is no evidence to prove that antibiotics (other than rifampicin or rifabutin) affect these contraceptives. This is the latest guidance from the Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare.

However, if you are taking the contraceptive pill and experience vomiting or diarrhoea as a result of treatment with this antibiotic, you should follow the instructions for vomiting and diarrhoea described in the leaflet provided with your pills.

Piperacillin may rarely alter the anti-blood-clotting effects of anticoagulant medicines such as warfarin. Your doctor may wish to monitor your blood clotting time (INR) more frequently while you are having treatment with both medicines.

Piperacillin may decrease the removal of the medicine methotrexate from the body, which could increase the risk of its side effects. If you are taking methotrexate your doctor may want you to have extra check-ups and blood tests while you are having a course of this antibiotic.

Oral typhoid vaccine (Vivotif) should not be taken until at least three days after you have finished a course of this antibiotic, because the antibiotic could make the vaccine less effective.