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My 91 Year Old Father Was Taken To Urgent Care
Question: my 91 year old father was taken to urgent care on Tuesday and diagnosed with pneumonia. He was given an antibiotic shot (don't know name) and prescribed Levaquin 750mg 1x a day. We were told to take him to his primary doctor. We went to his primary today and after voicing my concerns about the side affects of Levaquin on elderly patients , the doctor prescribed Amox-clav 500 125mg 3x day. IS this an appropriate medication for pneumonia?
Brief Answer:
Amox-Clav might be appropriate.
Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch,
Thanks for using 'Ask A Doctor' service. Levaquin is a common and appropriate medication to use for community-acquired pneumonia, but I agree with your doctor that it can have many side effects, particularly in elderly patients.
Amox-Clav is also an antibiotic we use to treat pneumonia, as it can treat the bacteria Streptococcus pneumonia, which is the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia.
However, typically I would use a higher dose than this (Amox-Clav 2 grams twice a day) because there is usually some resistance of the bacteria to this antibiotic, and I would usually prescribe azithromycin or doxycycline with it to cover other bacteria that can cause pneumonia but Amox-Clav does not cover. The choice of which one to use depends mostly on where you live and what type of bacteria are generally there, whether they are resistant to either Azithromycin or Doxycycline.
That being said, treating with the dose of Amox-Clav that your doctor prescribed is likely going to effectively treat your father's pneumonia, so it would be reasonable to see if he improves on this treatment. You should see a noticeable improvement in 2-3 days. If after that time he is still having fevers, or the cough is not improving, then I would take him back for reassessment and the antibiotics may need to be adjusted.
I hope that helps...
Please let me know if you have any questions, I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
Amox-Clav might be appropriate.
Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch,
Thanks for using 'Ask A Doctor' service. Levaquin is a common and appropriate medication to use for community-acquired pneumonia, but I agree with your doctor that it can have many side effects, particularly in elderly patients.
Amox-Clav is also an antibiotic we use to treat pneumonia, as it can treat the bacteria Streptococcus pneumonia, which is the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia.
However, typically I would use a higher dose than this (Amox-Clav 2 grams twice a day) because there is usually some resistance of the bacteria to this antibiotic, and I would usually prescribe azithromycin or doxycycline with it to cover other bacteria that can cause pneumonia but Amox-Clav does not cover. The choice of which one to use depends mostly on where you live and what type of bacteria are generally there, whether they are resistant to either Azithromycin or Doxycycline.
That being said, treating with the dose of Amox-Clav that your doctor prescribed is likely going to effectively treat your father's pneumonia, so it would be reasonable to see if he improves on this treatment. You should see a noticeable improvement in 2-3 days. If after that time he is still having fevers, or the cough is not improving, then I would take him back for reassessment and the antibiotics may need to be adjusted.
I hope that helps...
Please let me know if you have any questions, I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Answered by
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