A widely used antibiotic for acne and infections is linked to risk of pregnancy loss, new study finds
Among women with respiratory infections, those prescribed doxycycline had a 40% to 54% higher risk of pregnancy loss, compared with those prescribed amoxicillin, another broad-spectrum antibiotic in a different class.
Key points
- "I would advise physicians to carefully consider the benefit-risk balance when prescribing doxycycline to women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy," study first author Almut Winterstein, a pharmacist and drug-safety researcher at the University of Florida, told Live Science in an email.
- Although doxycycline exposure may add to that risk, taking the antibiotic does not necessarily mean pregnancy loss will occur.
- It's often used to treat acne, respiratory infections and sexually transmitted infections, such as chlamydia and syphilis.
Taking doxycycline, a commonly prescribed antibiotic, during the first trimester of pregnancy may increase the risk of pregnancy loss, a new study suggests.
Among the patients treated for acne, doxycycline users had a 49% higher risk of pregnancy loss in one database than those given the antibiotic clindamycin.
Additional details
- Overall, doxycycline was associated with seven to 11 additional pregnancy losses per 100 pregnancies, compared with the other antibiotic options assessed, the researchers reported.
- More than 218,230 of these patients were treated for respiratory tract infections, and over 6,630 were treated for acne, between conception and the end of the first trimester.
- 10) in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, provides clearer evidence of a link between doxycycline use in the first trimester and pregnancy loss.
- Because the study was observational, it cannot prove that the antibiotic itself caused those losses, which included miscarriages and stillbirths.
- 'They didn't question it': Why doctors prescribe too many antibiotics Mini-brains show how common drug freezes cell division in the womb, causing birth defects Because doxycycline may be prescribed before a pregnancy is recognized, doctors should consider the possibility of pregnancy when prescribing this drug to women of….
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