Doctors warn of Cipro resistance

Prescriptions for ciprofloxacin have soared since the beginning of the anthrax scare; experts worry that this will exacerbate already-emerging resistance to the drug.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Dec. 10, 2001.

From 1989 to 2000, resistance to ciprofloxacin -- Cipro -- among patients with bacterial infections after cataract surgery increased from 22% to 37%, according to a study presented at last month's meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in New Orleans.

At this month's Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, at least three studies will be presented also showing increasing resistance to the drug in other situations.

"There definitely has been an increase in resistance to ciprofloxacin," said Brandon Busbee, MD, chief resident at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia and one of the authors of the paper presented at the AAO. "Some people would theorize that's because it's a popular drug to use."

But since the anthrax scare began in October, it is even more popular, becoming one of the few antibiotics consumers know by name.

While experts concede that all antibiotics eventually lose their usefulness, they worry that the recent anthrax-related ciprofloxacin rush will accelerate the process for what is now one of the more powerful antibiotics available on an outpatient basis. Any more punch would usually require an IV and an inpatient visit -- something reserved for the sickest patients.

"Penicillin used to be a great drug too," Dr. Busbee said. "Now, there's so much resistance to it, it's not used as much. When we start using antibiotics as frequently as we do, resistance emerges."

According to NDCHealth, an Atlanta-based health care information services company, more than 639,000 Cipro prescriptions were filled at retail and online pharmacies in the first two weeks of October -- the height of the scare. Just more than 500,000 were filled during the same period last year. There have also been reports of people close to U.S. borders buying Cipro from Mexico or Canada. Some consumers are also obtaining it from foreign Internet sites. [...]