In the treatment of infectious diseases in children, antimicrobial drugs in the form of a suspension are most in demand, because giving them to a child of any age is much easier than a pill or capsule. One of these antibiotics is Pancef. When prescribing it to children, it is important to correctly calculate the dose of the finished suspension. You also need to know what analogue it can be replaced with.
Release form
"Pancef" for suspension preparation is produced in the form of yellow granules. They are housed in glass vials with an aluminum cap and a plastic measuring cap. One bottle contains 32 g or 53 g of medication.
When the preparation is diluted from such a number of granules, respectively, 60 or 100 ml of a homogeneous white-yellow or white suspension, smelling of an orange, is obtained. Pancef is also available in film-coated tablets.
Composition
The main component of the granules is cefixime in the form of trihydrate. After preparation of the suspension, its dosage in the drug is 100 mg / 5 ml. Additionally, the medication contains sodium benzoate and xanthan gum. The sweetness of the finished suspension is given by sucrose, and the taste and smell of orange are due to the presence of orange flavor in the composition.
Operating principle
"Pancef" is an antibiotic of the cephalosporin group and belongs to the third generation. It has a fairly wide range of effects on various infectious agents, and the very effect on microbes is bactericidal. It is associated with the ability of cefixime to block the process of membrane synthesis in bacterial cells, resulting in the death of microorganisms.
Pancef has a high activity against the following bacteria:
- Pneumococcus.
- Pyogenic streptococcus.
- Haemophilus influenzae.
- Moraxella catarralis.
- Escherichia koli.
- Gonococcus.
- Proteus.
- Different types of Klebsiella.
- Pasteurella.
- Salmonella.
- Citrobacter.
- Serration.
- Providence.
- Shigella.
However, most staphylococci, clostridia, bacteroids, enterobacteria do not die under the influence of such a drug. Resistance to the effects of cefixime is also noted in some listeria, enterococci, streptococci, acinetobacters and pseudomonads.
After taking the medicine inside, cefixime enters the bloodstream in an amount 40-50% of the total dose.
The absorption rate will be higher if the medication is taken with food.
The drug is excreted mainly in the urine. Due to the long period of maximum plasma content and half-life, Pancef can be taken only once a day.
Indications
The granules are used in the treatment of infections caused by bacteria susceptible to cefixime. The drug is prescribed for the following symptoms:
- With pharyngitis, sinusitis, inflammation of the adenoids, tonsillitis, otitis media and other infections that are localized in the upper respiratory tract and ENT organs.
- With tracheobronchitis, pneumonia or bronchitis.
- With bacterial lesions of the urinary tract.
- With an uncomplicated form of gonorrhea.
At what age is it prescribed?
Children "Panzef" in granules are allowed from the age of six months. If the baby is not yet six months old, it is contraindicated to give him such a suspension. Usually this form of the drug is used up to 12 years of age., as teenagers can already drink "Panzef" in tablets. However, the medication is not prohibited for patients over 12 years old, and for adults.
Contraindications
"Pancef" should not be given to children who are hypersensitive to antibiotics of the cephalosporin or penicillin group. With colitis or renal failure, the suspension is used with caution.
Side effects
Among the possible side effects, the following may occur:
- The drug can cause hives, fever, itchy skin, redness and other types of allergic reactions.
- Suspension treatment may be accompanied by abdominal pain, nausea, constipation, dysbiosis, vomiting, diarrhea, cholestasis, stomatitis, or jaundice.
- Due to the use of Pancef, hematopoiesis can be inhibited, which leads to a decrease in the number of blood cells and bleeding.
- In the biochemical analysis of blood, an increase in indicators such as urea, bilirubin, transaminases and creatinine is possible.
- In some patients, the drug provokes tinnitus, dizziness, headaches.
- In rare cases, the suspension causes nephritis, dyspnea, candidiasis or vitamin B deficiency.
Instructions for use
It is necessary to dilute the granules with water before the first use, since the shelf life of the prepared medicine is short.
To obtain a homogeneous suspension, it is necessary to add cooled boiled water in an amount of 40 ml (to granules weighing 32 g) or 66 ml (to a preparation weighing 53 g) inside the bottle.
A graduated cap is used to add water and the liquid is poured in two steps, shaking the closed bottle vigorously after each dilution.
The finished drug is also dispensed using a cap, which is sold together with the bottle. After the child drinks the suspension, this cap must be rinsed and dried. Before each next use, the liquid inside the bottle must be shaken.
The average duration of treatment with Pancef is from 7 to 10 days. The drug can be taken once or divided into two doses. For a child aged 6 months to 12 years with a weight of less than 50 kg, the dosage of the suspension is calculated according to his body weight. Such a patient is given 8 mg / kg per day - this amount can be taken once or divided into 2 doses of 4 mg / kg.
There is also a table of approximate doses based on the weight of the baby in the annotation for the granules. If a child is over 12 years old, then 400 mg of cefixime is given to him per day, which corresponds to 20 ml of suspension. The drug can be taken twice - 10 ml per dose (200 mg of active substance).
Overdose
If a child accidentally gets too high a dose of the suspension, side effects will appear or worsen. To treat an overdose, gastric lavage should be performed and symptomatic treatment should be prescribed.
Compatibility with other drugs
It is important to consider how the drug reacts with other drugs:
- When used with indirect anticoagulants, their effect is enhanced.
- The combination with drugs that reduce canalic secretion increases the toxicity of Pancef, since they delay its excretion from the body.
- Reception together with antacids will slow down the absorption of cefixime.
- If carbamazepine is used together with Pancef, its concentration will increase.
Terms of sale
To buy Pancef granules in a pharmacy, you need a prescription from a doctor. The price of one bottle, depending on the volume of the finished suspension, ranges from 280 to 450 rubles.
Storage features
The shelf life of a sealed bottle of "Panzef" is 3 years, but if a suspension is prepared from granules, it can be stored no longer than 14 days from the moment of dilution with water. You can keep the drug at home at room temperature, choosing a place where a small child cannot get the medicine.
Reviews
On the use of Pancef granules in children, you can see mostly good reviews, in which the medication is called effective and convenient to use.
Due to its pleasant taste, most babies do not protest against such an antibiotic. In addition, moms love that this drug can only be given once a day.
Among the disadvantages of the suspension are its short shelf life and the frequent occurrence of adverse reactions, for example, allergies in the form of a rash or loose stools.
Also, some mothers think "Panzef" is expensive. In addition, if the child weighs more than 25 kg, then the parents complain that even the largest bottle is not enough for one course of treatment.
Analogs
If necessary, replace "Pancef" with a similar drug is most often chosen "Suprax", since such an antibiotic also contains cefixime, and one of its forms is a suspension, which is prepared from granules. Such "Suprax" is produced in glass bottles, supplemented with a measuring syringe or spoon. After adding water inside such a bottle, a sweet strawberry cream or white suspension is formed with an active ingredient concentration of 100 mg / 5 ml.
"Suprax" is prescribed for the same diseases for which "Pancef" is effective. Contraindications, possible negative effects and method of administration for such drugs also coincide. The solid form of such a drug are capsules and strawberry dispersible tablets (they are called "Suprax Solutab"). They are used in the treatment of children over 12 years old, replacing the tableted "Pancef".
Instead of these antibiotics, the doctor may prescribe other medicines with antimicrobial action:
- "Zinnat". Such a medicine also belongs to cephalosporin antibiotics, but to the second generation (its action is provided by cefuroxime). "Zinnat" in the form of a suspension is allowed from 3 months of age, and tablets are given to children over three years old.
- Wilprafen. The main component of these tablets is josamycin. The drug is used when a child weighs more than 10 kilograms, but in pediatrics it is more often replaced by "Vilprafen Solutab", since these are soluble tablets from which the suspension is prepared.
- "Macropen". This medicine contains midecamycin and comes in two forms. The suspension can be given to children of any age, and tablets - from 3 years old (weighing more than 30 kg).
- Sumamed. Such an antibiotic in a suspension based on azithromycin is prescribed for babies over six months old, and dispersible tablets are prescribed from the age of 3.
- Augmentin. This suspension based on a combination of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid can even be administered to infants. The drug is also available in tablets, approved from the age of 12 (with a weight over 40 kg).
Such medicines are very effective in treating bacterial infections, but should not be used without a doctor's prescription, because each of them has its own characteristics of use, contraindications and acceptable dosages.
Therefore, it is better to entrust a pediatrician, pulmonologist, ENT or other specialist to decide on the replacement of Pantsef with any of these medications.
