Is Meropenem effective in clearing Legionnaires’ disease? What is the chance of survival with lung cancer and continuous smoking?
Meropenem has some activity against Legionella, but would not be considered an effective antibiotic for Legionnaires’ disease. For survival of lung cancer, it would be best answered by the patient’s oncologist.
Follow-Up Question:
The doctor changed my mother from meropenem to gentamicin. Will this be effective in clearing the Legionella? I wonder why the doctor won’t put her on the Cipro which is supposed to be the most effective drug. She is on oral Zithromax.
Reply:
Gentamicin is inactive against Legionella. Oral azithromycin is highly active against Legionella. If your mother is critically ill in the ICU, then printout this article (https://legionella.org/wp-content/uploads/legionella_macro_or_quin-cmi_2006_v12s3.pdf) from the Publications section, and show it to her physicians. If your mother is recovering nicely, then oral azithromycin is fine.