The questioner has heard about a case where a pregnant woman, treated with erythromycin, got a chil

Fråga: The questioner has heard about a case where a pregnant woman, treated with erythromycin, got a child with damaged hearing. Is there any documentation indicating that pregnant women should not be treated with erythromycin?

Sammanfattning: There is no documentation indicating a possible risk of hearing disorders or other congenital defects in the newborn child when the mother has been treated with erythromycin during pregnancy.

Svar: In 1990 a question was asked to our drug information centre concerning a 2-year-old child with a severe hearing disorder. The mother was treated during pregnancy (week 16-20) with erythromycin for suspected mycoplasma pneumonia. According to the answer no documentation was found indicating any risk of fetal damage caused by erythromycin (1). It was also stated that no cases have been recorded in a Swedish register of malformations.

A follow up literature search has revealed no documentation linking the use of erythromycin with congenital defects. Erythromycin has been recommended as an alternative when treating pregnant patients allergic to penicillin (2).

In the Swedish catalogue of registered drugs (FASS), it is stated that erythromycin can cause reversible hearing decrease in rare cases (3). This is in accordance with an earlier Drugline question on hearing disorders caused by erythromycin (4). The Swedish Adverse Drug Advisory Committee (SADRAC) has received 12 reports of decreased hearing, where erythromycin has been judged a possible or probable cause of the symptoms. Five of the cases were treated with only erythromycin (5-7 days) and all hearing decrease was reversible.