Commonly Used Antibiotic Poses Acute Respiratory Failure Risk for Adolescents: Study

The FDA had previously issued safety warnings and label changes for the medication, which is used to treat pneumonia and skin and urinary tract infections.

A supermarket pharmacy manager counts antibiotic pills for a prescription in Miami on Aug. 7, 2007. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

An antibiotic commonly used to treat several infections poses a risk for acute respiratory failure among healthy adolescents and young adults, according to a peer-reviewed study published on Nov. 24 in the JAMA Network Open journal.

The study focused on trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), a combination antibiotic. TMP-SMX is used to treat pneumonia and acts as a first- or second-line treatment for multiple other ailments, such as skin and urinary tract infections.