Medicine Newbie: Infection and Antibiotics: Tazocin

Saturday, 9 February 2019

Infection and Antibiotics: Tazocin

I studied detailed bacterial structure in my fourth year of the undergraduate program It was thought by Dr Mina Hector, under Biochemistry. There were only two students. We read page by page. I still have my textbook.

Many soldiers and victims died as a result of infection and antibiotic was not yet discovered in the First World War (WW1).

Penicillin was accidentally discovered by a Scottish bacteriologist, Alexander Fleming, on 28 September 1928 at the St Mary's Hospital in London, England. He returned from vacation and noticed a green mold, Penicillium notatum, from orange peel had contaminated his petri dishes of Staphylococcus.

Penicillin was made available when the Second World War (WW2) almost came to a close. It helped to save many lives. Sir Alexander Fleming was bestowed the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945. His laboratory is being preserved.

The discovery of Penicillin triggered the Antibiotic Era. Many other antibiotics were then isolated, studied and produced in various laboratories by many nations.

Tazocin is an antibiotic manufactured and marketed by Pfizer, UK and a few other companies in the 1990s. Its active ingredients are sodium piperacillin and sodium tazobactam.

Tazocin is used for treating infections and septicaemia in the intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital wards. It works well for both Gram positive (Gram +) and Gram negative (Gram -) bacterial infections. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is Gram -.

Pseudomonas lung infection has a characteristics odour and productive cough, initially brown sputum and subsequently thick white sputum. Sputum culture & sensitivity (C&S) will provide Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate.

Sputum C&S

Tazocin is used for treating patients with severe Pseudomonas lung infection, with complicated renal infection. Tazocin is administered intravenously (i.v.).

There are 2 types of vial packing:
Each vial of Tazocin 2 g / 0.25 g contains 5.67 mmol (130 mg) of sodium.
Each vial of Tazocin 4 g / 0.5 g contains 11.35 mmol (261 mg) of sodium.

The usual dose is 4 g piperacillin / 0.5 g tazobactam given every 8 hours (8 hourly).
For nosocomial pneumonia and bacterial infections, the recommended dose is 4 g piperacillin / 0.5 g tazobactam administered every 6 hours (6 hourly).

For renal patients, creatinine is determined and creatinine clearance calculated. Tazocin dose is reduced and administered 6 hourly. Tazocin (6 hourly is given i.v. within 30 minutes) for 5 days in renal impairment (obstructive uropathy).

Combined use of piperacillin/tazobactam and vancomycin may be associated with an increased incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI).