Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme limitations on macrolides: implications for pertussis management

Kari A J Jarvinen,* Bradley J McCall,† Clare B Nourse,‡ Joe G McCormack,§ Martyn H Tilse¶

1 Communicable Disease Control, Brisbane Southside Public Health Unit, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, QLD 4108
4 Mater Health Services, South Brisbane, QLD.

Correspondence: kari_jarvinen@health.qld.gov.au

1. Tiwari T, Murphy TV, Moran J; National Immunization Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recommended antimicrobial agents for the treatment and postexposure prophylaxis of pertussis: 2005 CDC Guidelines. MMWR Recomm Rep 2005; 54 (RR-14): 1-16.
2. Allen C, Jeffery H. Pertussis in the neonatal nursery. J Paediatr Child Health 2005; 41: 140-142.
3. Liu B, Juurlink D. Drugs and the QT interval — caveat doctor. N Engl J Med 2004; 351: 1053-1056.
4. Altunaiji S, Kukurozovic R, Curtis N, Massie J. Antibiotics for whooping cough (pertussis). Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2005; (1): CD004404.
5. Milberg P, Eckardt L, Bruns HJ, et al. Divergent proarrhythmic potential of macrolide antibiotics despite similar QT prolongation: fast phase 3 repolarization prevents early afterdepolarizations and torsade de pointes. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2002; 303: 218-225.
6. Ohtani H, Taninaka C, Hanada E, et al. Comparative pharmacodynamic analysis of Q-T interval prolongation induced by the macrolides clarithromycin, roxithromycin, and azithromycin in rats. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2000; 44: 2630-2637.

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.