Common antibiotic linked with heart deaths

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/bmj-cal081514.php

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 19-Aug-2014

Contact: Caroline White
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Common antibiotic linked with heart deaths
Findings need confirmation before being used to guide decisions, say researchers

The antibiotic clarithromycin -- widely used for treating common bacterial infections -- is associated with an increased risk of heart deaths, finds a study published on thebmj.com today.

The authors say their findings require urgent confirmation, given that many millions of people are prescribed the drug each year. But they stress that the absolute risk is small and that prescribing practice should not be changed until results have been confirmed in an independent study.

Clarithromycin belongs to a group of antibiotics known as macrolides. Macrolide antibiotics prolong the duration of electrical activity of the heart muscle (known as the QT interval) and are therefore thought to increase the risk of potentially fatal heart rhythm problems.

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