Zutig 50 Injection
Therapy Area
Anti Infective
About Leaflet
Read all of this leaflet carefully before you are given this medicine because it contains important information for you or your child.
- Keep this leaflet. You may need to read it again.
- If you have any further questions, ask your doctor or nurse.
- If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor or nurse. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. See section 4.
What is in this leaflet:
- What Zutig is and what it is used for
- What you need to know before you receive Zutig
- How Zutig is given
- Possible side effects
- How to store Zutig
- Contents of the pack and other information
1. What Zutig is and what it is used for
Zutig is an antibiotic of the glycylcycline group that works by stopping the growth of bacteria that cause infections.
Your doctor has prescribed Zutig because you or your child at least 8 years old has one of the following types of serious infections:
- Complicated infection of the skin and soft tissues (the tissue below the skin), excluding diabetic foot infections.
- Complicated infection in the abdomen.
Zutig is only used when your doctor thinks other antibiotics are not suitable.
2. What you need to know before you receive Zutig
Do not use Zutig
- If you are allergic to tigecycline, or any of the other ingredients of this medicine. If you are allergic to tetracycline class antibiotics (e.g., minocycline, doxycycline, etc.), you may be allergic to tigecycline.
Warnings and precautions
Talk to your doctor or nurse before receiving Zutig:
If you have poor or slow wound healing.
If you are suffering from diarrhoea before you are given Zutig.
If you develop diarrhoea during or after your treatment, tell your doctor at once. Do not take any diarrhoea medicine without first checking with your doctor.
If you have or previously had any side effects due to antibiotics belonging to the tetracycline class (e.g., skin sensitization to sun light, staining on developing teeth, pancreas inflammation, and alteration of certain laboratory values aimed at measuring how well your blood clots).
If you have, or previously had liver problems. Depending on the condition of your liver, your doctor may reduce the dose to avoid potential side effects. If you have blockage of the bile ducts (cholestasis). If you suffer from a bleeding disorder or are in treatment with anticoagulant drugs, as this medicine can interfere with blood coagulation.
During treatment with Zutig:
Tell your doctor immediately if you develop symptoms of an allergic reaction.
Tell your doctor immediately if you develop severe abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. These may be symptoms of acute pancreatitis (inflamed pancreas which may result in severe abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting).
In certain serious infections, your doctor may consider to use Zutig in combination with other antibiotics.
Your doctor will monitor you closely for the development of any other bacterial infections. If you develop another bacterial infection, your doctor may prescribe a different antibiotic specific for the type of infection present.
Although antibiotics including Zutig fight certain bacteria, other bacteria and fungi may continue to grow. This is called overgrowth. Your doctor will monitor you closely for any potential infections and treat you if necessary.
Children
Zutig is not to be used in children less than 8 years of age due to the lack of data on safety and efficacy in this age group and because it may induce permanent dental defects such as staining on the developing teeth.
Other medicines and Zutig
Tell your doctor if you are taking, have recently taken or might take any other medicines. Zutig may prolong certain tests that measure how well your blood is clotting. It is important that you tell your doctor if you are taking medicines to avoid an excess of blood clotting (named anticoagulants). If this were the case, your doctor will monitor you closely.
Zutig may interfere with the contraceptive pill (birth control pill). Talk to your doctor about the need for an additional method of contraception while receiving Zutig. Zutig may increase the effect of medicines used to suppress the immune system (such as tacrolimus or cyclosporine). It is important that you tell your doctor if you are taking these medicines so you can be closely monitored.
Pregnancy and breast-feeding
Zutig may cause foetal harm. If you are pregnant or breast-feeding, think you may be pregnant or are planning to have a baby, ask your doctor for advice before receiving Zutig. It is not known if Zutig passes into breast milk in humans. Ask your doctor for advice before breast-feeding your baby.
Driving and using machines
Zutig may cause side effects such as dizziness. This may impair your ability to drive or operate machinery.
3. How Zutig is given
Zutig will be given to you by a doctor or a nurse. The recommended dose in adults is 100 mg given initially, followed by 50 mg every 12 hours. This dose is given intravenously (directly into your blood stream) over a period of 30 to 60 minutes. The recommended dose in children aged 8 to < 12 years is 1.2 mg/kg given every 12 hours intravenously to a maximum dose of 50 mg every 12 hours The recommended dose in adolescents aged 12 to < 18 years is 50 mg given every 12 hours. A course of treatment usually lasts for 5 to 14 days. Your doctor will decide how long you should be treated.
If you receive more Zutig than you should
If you are concerned that you may have been given too much Zutig, talk to your doctor or nurse immediately.
If you miss a dose of Zutig
If you are concerned that you may have missed a dose, talk to your doctor or nurse immediately.
4. Possible side effects
Like all medicines, this medicine can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them. Pseudomembranous colitis may occur with most antibiotics including Zutig. This consists of severe, persistent or bloody diarrhoea associated with abdominal pain or fever, which can be a sign of serious bowel inflammation, which may occur during or after your treatment.
Very common side effects are (may affect more than 1 in 10 people):
- Nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea.
Common side effects are (may affect up to 1 in 10 people):
- Abscess (collection of pus), infections
- Laboratory measurements of decreased ability to form blood clots
- Dizziness
- Vein irritations from the injection, including pain, inflammation, swelling and clotting
- Abdominal pain, dyspepsia (stomach ache and indigestion), anorexia (loss of appetite)
- Increases in liver enzymes, hyperbilirubinaemia (excess of bile pigment in the blood)
- Pruritus (itching), rash
- Poor or slow wound healing
- Headache
- Increase in amylase, which is an enzyme found in the salivary glands and pancreas, increased blood urea nitrogen (BUN)
- Pneumonia
- Low blood sugar
- Sepsis (severe infection in the body and blood stream)/septic shock (serious medical condition which can lead to multiple organ failure and death as a result of sepsis)
- Injection site reaction (pain, redness, inflammation)
- Low protein levels in the blood
Uncommon side effects are (may affect up to 1 in 100 people):
- Acute pancreatitis (inflamed pancreas which may result in severe abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting)
- Jaundice (yellow coloration of the skin), inflammation of the liver
- Low platelet levels in the blood (which may lead to an increased bleeding tendency and bruising/haematoma)
- Rare side effects are (may affect up to 1 in 1,000 people):
- Low fibrinogen levels in the blood (a protein involved in blood clotting) Not known side effects are (frequency cannot be estimated from the available data):
- Anaphylaxis/anaphylactoid reactions (that may range from mild to severe, including a sudden, generalised allergic reaction that may lead to a life-threatening shock [e.g. difficulty in breathing, drop of blood pressure, fast pulse])
- Liver failure
- Skin rash, which may lead to severe blistering and peeling of the skin (Stevens-Johnson Syndrome)
Reporting of side effects
If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. You can also report side effects directly: Website: www.zuventus.com and click the tab “Safety Reporting” located on the top right end of the home page.
By reporting side effects, you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine. You can also report the side effect with the help of your treating physician.
5. How to store Zutig
Keep this medicine out of the sight and reach of children. Store below 25°C.
Do not use this medicine after the expiry date which is stated on the vial. The expiry date refers to the last day of that month.
Storage after preparation
Once the powder has been made into a solution and diluted ready for use, it should be given to you immediately. Do not throw away any medicines via wastewater or household waste. Ask your pharmacist how to throw away medicines you no longer use. These measures will help protect the environment.
6. Contents of the pack and other information
What Zutig contains
The active substance is tigecycline. Each vial contains 50 mg of tigecycline.
What Zutig looks like and contents of the pack
Zutig is supplied as a powder for solution for infusion in a vial. 50 mg / Vial
Single Dose Vial