According to results from the largest study conducted on antibiotics during pregnancy, the use of macrolides and penicillin is no longer a cause for concern. Throughout the entire gestational period, thousands of women are medically advised to use antibiotics for some type of infection, and about 4 in 10 will inevitably use them at some point during pregnancy.
In addition to penicillin, macrolide antibiotics are the most commonly used medications by the entire population. Macrolides include erythromycin, azithromycin, clarithromycin, and fidaxomicin in their composition. They have a broader spectrum than penicillin and are also recommended in cases of penicillin allergy. However, until now, gynecologists have prohibited these medications as they were theoretically considered harmful to pregnancy, since their use could cross the placental barrier and reach the fetus.
The study was conducted by Anick Bérard from the University of Montreal in Canada and points out that the use of these antibiotics may carry some risks such as cardiovascular malformation and a higher possibility for the baby to suffer from epilepsy or cerebral palsy. This fact has caused medical prescriptions for these medicines to be withheld from pregnant women.
The main problem is that antibiotics used to treat diseases such as chlamydia, for example, may be equally harmful. However, the Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada do not allow clinical trials on pregnant women to assess the efficacy and contraindications of these medications. For this reason, the use of these agents during pregnancy is not considered 100% safe. Results are inconclusive, and assessments are made through indirect evidence. Therefore, until it is proven that antibiotics will not harm the baby by causing malformation, the safest approach is to keep pregnant women on medications authorized for treating infections, such as cephalexin, for example.
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Photo: Andressa Sipaúba
