As noted above, under licensed use,<unk>  is now considered to be contraindicated for the treatment of certain sexually transmitted diseases by some experts due to bacterial resistance. Caution should be used in people with liver disease. The excretion of<unk>  may be reduced in patients with severe liver function disorders (e.g., cirrhosis with or without ascites).<unk>  is also considered to be contraindicated within the pediatric population, pregnancy, nursing mothers, patients with psychiatric illnesses and in patients with epilepsy or other seizure disorders. Pregnancy<unk>  has not been shown to have any teratogenic effects at oral doses as high as 810 mg/kg/day (11 times the recommended maximum human dose based on mg/m2 or 50 times based on mg/kg) and 160 mg/kg/day (four times the recommended maximum human dose based on mg/m2 or 10 times based on mg/kg) when administered to pregnant rats and rabbits, respectively. Additional studies in rats with oral doses up to 360 mg/kg/day (five times the recommended maximum human dose based on mg/m2 or 23 times based on mg/kg) demonstrated no adverse effect on late fetal development, labor, delivery, lactation, neonatal viability, or growth of the newborn. Doses equivalent to 50 and 10 times the recommended maximum human dose of<unk>  (based on mg/kg) were fetotoxic (i.e., decreased fetal body weight and increased fetal mortality) in rats and rabbits, respectively. Minor skeletal variations were reported in rats receiving doses of 810 mg/kg/day, which is more than 10 times higher than the recommended maximum human dose based on mg/m2. There are, however, no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women.<unk>  should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus. Children Oral and intravenous<unk>  are not licensed for use in children, except as noted above, due to the risk of musculoskeletal injury. In one study, 1534 juvenile patients (age 6 months to 16 years) treated with levofloxacin as part of three efficacy trials were followed up to assess all musculoskeletal events occurring up to 12 months after treatment. At 12 months' follow-up, the cumulative incidence of musculoskeletal adverse events was 3.4%, compared to 1.8% among 893 patients treated with other antibiotics. In the levafloxacin-treated group, about two-thirds of these musculoskeletal adverse events occurred in the first 60 days, 86% were mild, 17% were moderate, and all resolved without long-term sequelae. In a study comparing the safety and efficacy of levofloxacin to that of azithromycin or ceftriaxone in 712 children with community-acquired pneumonia, adverse events were experienced by 6% of those treated with levofloxacin and 4% of those treated with comparator antibiotics. Most of these adverse events were thought to be unrelated or doubtfully related to the levofloxacin. Two deaths were observed in the levofloxacin group, neither of which was thought to be treatment-related. Spontaneous reports to the FDA Adverse Effects Reporting System at the time of the 20 September 2011 FDA Pediatric Drugs Advisory Committee include musculoskeletal events (39, including five cases of tendon rupture) and central nervous system events (19, including five cases of seizures) as the most common spontaneous reports between April 2005 and March 2008. An estimated 130,000 pediatric prescriptions for levofloxacin were filled on behalf of 112,000 pediatric patients during that period.
Ofloxacin
Norfloxacin
Sparfloxacin
Enrofloxacin
Ciprofloxacin
Delafloxacin
Alatrofloxacin
Merafloxacin