According to Drugs.com, chloramphenicol is an antibiotic used to treat serious bacterial infections. Chloramphenicol works by preventing the growth of bacteria. Use of chloramphenicol is restricted to serious bacterial infections that other antibiotics have failed to treat because chloramphenicol may cause irreversible blood disorders. Chloramphenicol is available as an injection that is administered at the doctor's office or hospital.
Typhoid
According to the National Institutes of Health, chloramphenicol may be used to treat typhoid when the salmonella typhi is known to be sensitive to the drug. Chloramphenicol used to be a first line treatment of typhoid, but the drug is no longer a first line treatment due to the development of multi drug-resistant salmonella.
Rickettsial Pox
According to the National Institutes of Health, chloramphenicol may be used to treat Rickettsial pox. Rickettsial is caused by a bacterium known as Rickettsia akaria, which is spread by mites. It causes chicken pox-like rashes all over the body.
Bacterial Meningitis
Chloramphenicol may be used to treat meningitis. Menengitis is the inflammation and swelling of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. This inflammation causes changes in the cerebrospinal fluids that surround the brain and spinal cord
Antibiotic Resistant Cholera
Chloromphenicol is used to treat antibiotic-resistant cholera. Cholera is a disease caused by vibrio cholera bacterium. Cholera is characterized by severe diarrhea. Some cholera bacteria may be resistant to antibiotics. Chloromphenicol is used when all other antibiotics have failed to treat cholera.
Warning
According to Drugs.com, chloramphenicol may cause severe bone marrow suppression which leads to irreversible blood disorders such as leukemia and aplastic anemia. Leukemia, a type of blood cancer has also been reported in patients who took chloromphenicol. These dangerous side effects may occur even if chloromphenicol was used once.
