Tetracycline tablets

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How does it work?

This medicine contains the active ingredient tetracycline hydrochloride, which belongs to a group of antibiotics called the tetracyclines. It is used to treat infections caused by bacteria. Tetracycline works by interfering with the ability of bacteria to produce proteins that are essential to them. Without these proteins the bacteria cannot grow, multiply and increase in numbers. Tetracycline therefore stops the spread of the infection and the remaining bacteria are killed by the immune system or eventually die. Tetracycline is a broad spectrum antibiotic that is active against a wide variety of bacteria. However, some strains of bacteria have developed resistance to this antibiotic, which has reduced its effectiveness for treating some types of infection. Tetracycline is still used to treat infections caused by chlamydia (eg the chest infection psittacosis, the eye infection trachoma, and the genital infection urethritis) and infections caused by mycoplasma organisms (eg pneumonia). Tetracycline is used to treat acne, due to its activity against the bacteria on the skin that cause acne (Propionebacterium acnes). It is used to treat flare-ups of chronic bronchitis, due to its activity against the bacteria usually responsible, Haemophilus influenzae. Tetracycline is also used to treat other rarer infections, such as those caused by a group of micro-organisms called rickettsiae (eg Q fever, Rocky mountain spotted fever) and those caused by Brucella bacteria (brucellosis). To make sure the bacteria causing an infection are susceptible to tetracycline your doctor may take a tissue sample, for example a swab from the infected area, or a urine or blood sample.

What is it used for?

- Acne vulgaris
- Chlamydia infections
- Chronic bronchitis
- Chronic inflammatory disorder of the facial skin (acne rosacea)
- Infection caused by Brucella bacteria (brucellosis)
- Infections caused by Mycoplasma organisms
- Infections caused by Rickettsiae micro-organisms transmitted by lice, fleas, ticks and mites

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