The most common adverse effect of sulfonamides are skin reactions that can range from potentially lethal toxidermias or benign rash.
Other major adverse reactions to sulfonamides are acute liver injury, pulmonary reactions and blood dyscrasias.
The major side effect of sulfonamide is your skin becoming more sensitive to sunlight than normal and can cause skin rash, itching, redness and discoloration of the skin or even a sunburn which can occur even with brief periods of exposure to sunlight.
A delayed allergic reaction to sulfa drugs is a delayed onset, hypersensitivity type syndrome that is characterized by skin rash, multiorgant toxicity and fever that occurs 7 to 14 days of taking sulfa drugs and the pathogenesis is believed to be immune mediated.
The bacteria that is susceptible to sulfonamides are coccidians, Toxoplasma species and plasmodia and also Chlamydia, Nocardia and Actinomyces.
The main use of sulfonamides are for preventing infections of burns and treating urinary tract infections.
Sulfonamides are still used but mostly for treating urinary tract infections and preventing the infections of burns.
The use of sulfonamides have diminished though because of the availability of antibiotics which are more effective and safer because of an increased instance of drug resistance.
People who should not take sulfa drugs are people that have AIDS or HIV or people who are allergic to sulfa or have a weaker immune system that can also be at higher risk for sulfa allergies.
You should also not take sulfa drugs if you have G6PD (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) deficiency as sulfa can trigger hemolytic anemia.
Examples of sulfonamide drugs are Sulfamethoxazole, Sulfadiazine, Sulfamethizole, Sulfasalazine, Chlorthalidone, Sulfisoxazole, Tolbutamide, Zonisamide Oral, Indapamide, Mafenide, Metolazone, Probenecid, Sulfacetamide, Sumatriptan, Azulfidine, Bumetanide, Furosemide, Gantrisin, Hydrochlorothiazide and Sulfaguanidine
Sulfonamide drugs are a functional group that is the basis of several groups of drugs, that are called sulphonamides, sulfa drugs or sulpha drugs.
The original antibacterial sulfonamides are synthetic antimicrobial agents that contain the sulfonamide group.
Sulfa drugs, also called sulfonamides, include antibiotics as well as other types of drugs.
Allergies happen most often with antibiotics.
Commonly prescribed sulfonamide drugs include include sulfasalazine (Azulfidine, Azulfidine EN-tabs), acetazolamide xr (Diamox Sequels), acetyl sulfisoxazole pediatric suspension (Gantrisin), sulfisoxazole (Trixazole), and Zonegran (zonisamide (Zonegran).
Sulphonamides are an important class of antibiotic drugs with a wide range of activity, being very effective against gram-positive and certain gram-negative bacteria.
Sulfonamides may cause your skin to be more sensitive to sunlight than it is normally.
Exposure to sunlight, even for brief periods of time, may cause a skin rash, itching, redness or other discoloration of the skin, or a severe sunburn.
Drugs that should be avoided with a sulfa allergy include.
Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (Septra, Bactrim)
Erythromycin-sulfisoxazole.
Today, sulfonamides are seldom used as monotherapy because their spectrum is limited and resistance develops rapidly.
Combined with a folate antagonist such as trimethoprim or pyrimethamine, sulfonamides are indicated among others in the treatment of toxoplasmosis and malaria.