Azithromycin
- Class: Macrolide
- Used for: a bacterial infection
- Say it: uh-zith-roh-MYE-sin
- Forms: tablet, oral liquid, injection
Remember the name – AZI → the A-to-Z pack
AZITHROMYCIN = the Z-PACK. A short sprint of doses that keeps working for days after the last tablet.
It concentrates inside tissues and leaves them slowly, so a three- or five-day course covers a longer illness. Short course does not mean weak course.
AZITHROMYCIN = the Z-PACK. A short sprint of doses that keeps working for days after the last tablet.
It concentrates inside tissues and leaves them slowly, so a three- or five-day course covers a longer illness. Short course does not mean weak course.
Mnemonic: The Z-pack keeps working after the box is empty
Macrolides jam the 50S ribosome. Azithromycin stays in tissue for days, so a five-day course goes on acting well after the last tablet — unusual among antibiotics.
Macrolides jam the 50S ribosome. Azithromycin stays in tissue for days, so a five-day course goes on acting well after the last tablet — unusual among antibiotics.
Side effects
Common: diarrhea, nausea, stomach pain
Serious: QT prolongation, C. difficile infection
Typical dose
500 mg on day one, then 250 mg for four days
Or 500 mg daily for three days. It keeps working in the tissues after the last dose.
Check yourself
Azithromycin stops bacteria by...
- jamming the ribosome so proteins cannot be made
- breaking down the bacterial cell wall
- cutting bacterial DNA
- blocking folate synthesis
Show answer
A. jamming the ribosome so proteins cannot be made
Because it attacks protein-building rather than the wall, it works on organisms that have no cell wall at all — mycoplasma, chlamydia, legionella — which is exactly why it is the atypical-pneumonia drug.
See it, don't memorize it
The app has the mechanism comic and a patient case for Azithromycin – plus the name link, the class mnemonic, pronunciation you can hear, and a self-check, for the top 100 drugs. One purchase, no subscription, no account.