Untoward Effects of Antimicrobial Drugs

Abstract

The antimicrobials have both direct and indirect adverse effects. The direct effects result from allergic and toxic reactions and avoidable therapeutic failures. The indirect effects, equally important, arise from environmental pollution. (The antimicrobials are among the most dangerous environmental pollutants.) The penicillins and sulfonamides are outstandingly safe drugs, but their wide use makes possible a high incidence of adverse reactions. We should not allow the comparative safety of some of these agents to obscure the high toxicity of other antibiotics.