Table 2.
US Emergency Department (ED) Visits Among Adults for Adverse Events (AEs) from Antibiotics, by Drug Class, 2011–2015
| Drug class* | Annualized national estimate | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ED visits for AEs | Rate per 10,000 dispensed prescriptions | ||
| No. | % (95% CI) | Rate (95% CI) | |
| Oral antibiotics | |||
| Sulfonamides | 33,725 | 23.2 (20.6–25.8) | 19.4 (14.9–23.8) |
| Penicillins | 30,298 | 20.8 (19.3–22.4) | 5.9 (4.6–7.1) |
| Quinolones | 22,770 | 15.7 (14.2–17.1) | 6.7 (5.1–8.2) |
| Cephalosporins | 15,616 | 10.7 (9.7–11.8) | 6.6 (5.1–8.2) |
| Lincomycins (clindamycin) | 10,685 | 7.3 (6.5–8.2) | 13.2 (10.4–16.0) |
| Macrolides | 10,279 | 7.1 (6.3–7.8) | 2.6 (1.9–3.3) |
| Tetracyclines | 7391 | 5.1 (4.3–5.8) | 4.3 (3.1–5.5) |
| Nitroimidazoles (metronidazole) | 6159 | 4.2 (3.4–5.1) | 7.4 (5.6–9.1) |
| Nitrofurans (nitrofurantoin) | 3961 | 2.7 (2.3–3.1) | 4.7 (3.6–5.7) |
| Oxazolidinones (linezolid) | 336 | 0.2 (0.1–0.4) | 19.9 (8.2–31.5) |
| Other or unspecified oral antibiotics† | 7023 | 4.8 (4.0–5.7) | N/A |
| Injectable antibiotics | |||
| Cephalosporins | 1598 | 1.1 (0.8–1.4) | N/A§ |
| Glycopeptides (vancomycin) | 756 | 0.5 (0.3–0.7) | |
| Penicillins | 1355 | 0.9 (0.6–1.3) | |
| Other injectable antibiotics‡ | 1133 | 0.8 (0.5–1.1) | |
Estimates of ED visits for antibiotic AEs are from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance project, CDC. Estimates of dispensed prescriptions (from retail and long-term care pharmacies) are from QuintilesIMS National Prescription Audit (2011–2015)
CI confidence interval, N/A not applicable
*ED visits that involve antibiotics from two different drug classes are included in estimates for each class
†“Other or unspecified oral antibiotics” includes unspecified antibiotics, vancomycin, dapsone, rifaximin, trimethoprim, neomycin, rifabutin, and chloramphenicol
‡“Other injectable antibiotics” includes carbapenems, quinolones, lipopeptides (daptomycin), aminoglycosides, lincomycins (clindamycin), tetracyclines, sulfonamides, macrolides, monobactams (aztreonam), lipoglycopeptides (dalbavancin), oxazolidinones (linezolid), and pentamidine isethionate
§Rate estimates not calculated because outpatient dispensing of injectable antibiotics is less reliably measured from the denominator data source (prescriptions dispensed from retail and long-term care pharmacies)