Talk:Azithromycin

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Why is it so expensive? I got a pack of 6 Sumamed capsules a 250mg for throat inflammation and it cost me 4200HUF (half of which was reimbursed by social security). 4200 HUF is about 20USD or 1/12th of local monthly minimal legal wage. If I understand correctly antibiotics are fermented by the tonnes in railway cart sized tanks at pharma fabs so it should cost tuppence. 195.70.32.136 12:53, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

I can answer that question with two words: They're Greedy. 206.156.242.36 18:57, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Zithromax 250mg, pack of 6 capsules, 19.27 euros in France, 2006 (75% to 100% reimbursed by social security). --PeaceAnywhere 17:34, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Good deal. $49.99 retail price ($15.00 out of my pocket given my insurance) for the Greenstone 6 x 250mg version in the northeastern US. In areas of the world where most people are covered by health insurance (private or public) there's no reason for patients to shop around and thus little incentive for retail pharmacists to compete on price. --Sommerfeld (talk) 17:48, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

I just bought a 3 pack of 500mg in Hyderabad, India for 80 rupee or about $2 : January 2007. So the developed world is definately being gouged.

Drugs are sold with minimal or no profit in the developing countries, or even given away by pharmaceutical companies, so those of us in the developed countries have to pay extra. We are subsidizing the health care needs of the world's poor, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

[edit] Good News about Azithromycin

Today (7 June 2006) I went to the pharmacy to get a prescription of the drug, and to my pleasant surprise, it was not a Pfizer product anymore. I think this indicates that the drug is now generic. As with any generic drug, the cost will go down now. My prescription was much cheaper (less than half) than the Pfizer product.

[edit] Different Appearance

I'm on these now, just for a week. Just wanted to say that the description in the article doesn't quite match what my pills look like. Not sure if this has something to do with the above statement that they're now generic, but for the record, my pills are solid pink (not mottled), still oval shaped, and have '93' engraved on one side and '7146' on the other. They are the 250mg variety. These came from the Target pharmacy. I'd put this on the main page, but I think I'll let somebody who knows more about it make that decision. --Lurlock 17:02, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Not sure what generic manufacturer you've got, but Greenstone is the one our pharmacy carries. They look very much like the standard Pfizer tablets but obviously don't bear the company name and instead have a typical tablet identification number that corresponds to the drug's NDC or national drug code. Every azithromycin tablet I've seen has been, at the very least, oblong and pink, so I went ahead and made a clarifying note on the main page for you. Archmage Brian 02:18, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Should someone say something about mechanisms of resistance for this drug (and what bacteria are more likely to be resistant)? I am not 100% sure, but if it is like with erythromycin there are three main resistance mechanisms: 1) prevention of entry into the cell via decreased permeability through membrane porins, 2) destruction of the lactone ring via an esterase, 3) methylation of the ribosomal target site (this one is usually plasmid mediated) ... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pietrocoen (talk • contribs) 00:40, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Common therapy

I don't know who noted that a common dose was "two grams," but I've never seen anyone take more than 500 mg of azithromycin in one day for a typical infection. According to Lexi-Comp's Drug Information Handbook, 13th edition, the maximum dose for respiratory tract infections, soft tissue infections, and bacterial sinusitis is 500 mg daily, which is consistent with Pfizer and generic manufacturers packaging the tablets in blister cards of six 250 mg tabs (in America, anyway).

The two gram dose is only used for bacterial urethritis or cervicitis due to Neisseria gonorrhoeae, so I edited the article to reflect a more accurate typical course of therapy. Archmage Brian 02:12, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Not sure this is "talk page" worthy, but this stuff cured my tonsillitis in like one minute 74.64.92.130 (talk) 11:41, 30 November 2007 (UTC)