Cardio-respiratory complications in patients receiving Chloramphenicol in Rwanda: A case series

In low-resource settings, antibiotic policy is complicated by the constraints of multiple drug resistance and by lack of affordability for patents [1]. Chloramphenicol remains widely used in these settings as an effective treatment for a range of serious infections [2], [3]. Important serious adverse effects of chloramphenicol include bone marrow suppression and ‘grey baby’ syndrome [4]. We report here three cases in which chloramphenicol treatment was associated with severe acute systemic cardio-respiratory complications within the space of 6 months of each other.

Keywords
Chloramphenicol; Anti-bacterial agents; Drug-Related Side Effects; Adverse Reactions; Developing Countries