Skip to main content
Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine logoLink to Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine
. 1999 Jul;16(4):268–270. doi: 10.1136/emj.16.4.268

Antibiotics, the pill, and pregnancy.

M Mastrantonio 1, H Minhas 1, A Gammon 1
PMCID: PMC1343367  PMID: 10417934

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To establish if advice concerning risks of pregnancy when taking oral contraceptive pill and antibiotics is being offered. METHOD: A retrospective audit of notes of 100 female patients aged 15-39 who were prescribed antibiotics. RESULTS: Documentation of use of contraception was noted in 3% of patients. Advice concerning risks and further precautions was noted in this 3% but not in any other records. CONCLUSION: The audit identified a gap in documentation and/or clinical practice in advising women of childbearing age of the risk of conceiving when using oral contraceptive pill and antibiotics. Recommendations are given as to how this may be addressed.

Full text

PDF
268

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Back D. J., Grimmer S. F., Orme M. L., Proudlove C., Mann R. D., Breckenridge A. M. Evaluation of Committee on Safety of Medicines yellow card reports on oral contraceptive-drug interactions with anticonvulsants and antibiotics. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1988 May;25(5):527–532. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1988.tb03341.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. DeSano E. A., Jr, Hurley S. C. Possible interactions of antihistamines and antibiotics with oral contraceptive effectiveness. Fertil Steril. 1982 Jun;37(6):853–854. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(16)46350-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Elstein M. Present status of hormonal contraception (COCs). Adv Contracept. 1996 Sep;12(3):155–166. doi: 10.1007/BF01849658. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Reimers D., Jezek A. Rifampicin und andere Antituberkulotika bei gleichzeitiger oraler Kontrazeption. Prax Pneumol. 1971 May;25(5):255–262. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Rossi A. C., Knapp D. E., Anello C., O'Neill R. T., Graham C. F., Mendelis P. S., Stanley G. R. Discovery of adverse drug reactions. A comparison of selected phase IV studies with spontaneous reporting methods. JAMA. 1983 Apr 22;249(16):2226–2228. doi: 10.1001/jama.249.16.2226. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Szoka P. R., Edgren R. A. Drug interactions with oral contraceptives: compilation and analysis of an adverse experience report database. Fertil Steril. 1988 May;49(5 Suppl 2):31S–38S. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Zachariasen R. D. Loss of oral contraceptive efficacy by concurrent antibiotic administration. Women Health. 1994;22(1):17–26. doi: 10.1300/J013v22n01_02. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES