Any of a group of compounds containing the chemical group sulphonamide (SO
2NH
2) or its derivatives, which were, and still are in some cases, used to treat bacterial diseases. Sulphadiazine (C
10H
10N
4O
2S) is an example.
Sulphonamide was the first commercially available antibacterial drug, the forerunner of a range of similar drugs. Toxicity and increasing resistance have limited their use chiefly to the treatment of urinary-tract infection.
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