Streptomycin

Streptomycin belongs to a class of drugs known as aminoglycoside antibiotics. It works by killing organisms that cause the infection. Streptomycin is a prescription-only medicine.

Streptomycin can be used to treat the following:

• Drug-resistant tuberculosis in combination with other drugs.
• Endocarditis (Abnormal growth in the heart that contains bacteria).
• The plague.
• Tularaemia (rabbit fever), an infection spread by ticks and deerfly.
• Rat-bite fever, a condition that develops following a rat bite.

Streptomycin is an antibiotic medicine that is used to treat tuberculosis. It is useful in treating bacterial infections such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, upper airway infections, and the plague. This medication will not work for viral infections such as the common cold and flu. If you have low blood calcium, do not use streptomycin. Streptomycin can lead to kidney damage if used when you are dehydrated.

Streptomycin is a prescription-only medicine that is injected into your veins to treat bacterial infections.

• Streptomycin can be given by injection into your muscle or directly into your blood.
• Always ensure to take the full course of the drugs when using streptomycin. If you miss a dose of streptomycin, it may make the infection more difficult to treat or it may worsen your side effects.
• If you take an overdose of streptomycin, contact your healthcare provider immediately.

If you are using streptomycin, the following are things you should look out for:

• Skin rash.
• Vomiting and nausea.
• Muscle weakness.
• Numbness of the face.

Some more serious side-effects may occur, such as:

• Fast heartbeat.
• Damage to the kidneys, which may cause you to have difficulty peeing, your legs, ankles or feet to swell or become short of breathe.
• Damage to the inner ear, which may cause ringing in your ears, loss of hearing or dizziness.
• Easy bruising or bleeding.

• Do not use streptomycin if you are or have ever been allergic to streptomycin.
• Do not use streptomycin during pregnancy. Streptomycin can hurt your baby, causing deafness.
• Inform your doctor if you are breastfeeding before using streptomycin.
• Streptomycin might reduce the effectiveness of oral contraceptives.
• Do not use any other drug with or obtain immunizations while using streptomycin.
• Do not use streptomycin if you are dehydrated.