Moxifloxacin--A Pre-emptive Strike Against Bacterial Infections in a Dicey Situation

Disclaimer.  I am not a licensed health practitioner.  This is just another post on items you might wish to have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your family as best as possible.  No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.  Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only.  It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care.  A qualified, licensed physician or other medical provider should be consulted before beginning any herbal or conventional treatment.

Moxifloxacin, brand name Avelox, is likely the last oral antibiotic to be covered here at Prep School Daily.  Moxie, as it's often called, is a fourth-generation fluoroquinolone antibiotic that inhibits DNA replication and repair.[1]  It’s quite possible you’ve never heard of it.  Do you want it in your medical kit?  Possibly.  That’s because if there were ever a one-size-fits-all antibiotic, moxifloxacin would be it.[2] 

For the past decade or so, moxifloxacin has been the antibiotic of choice troops carry in their combat pill packs—medications that they immediately take or are given after injury on the battlefield.[3]  This is because of experience gained in the course of treating combat casualties:  the sooner a person is administered a broad-spectrum antibiotic after an injury, the less likely that person is to develop an infection, and the less likely that person is to need prolonged antibiotic treatment and then experience the possible complications of that antibiotic therapy.[4]  Sounds good, doesn’t it?  It’s like a pre-emptive strike against the bacteria.

Moxifloxacin is produced in 400-mg tablets. They are taken only once per day, making them ideal for dicey situations.  Another huge advantage is that moxie doesn’t have the numerous drug interactions or sensitivities that occur with many other antibiotics, especially its close relative ciprofloxacin.[5]  Moxie is a very broad-spectrum antibiotic effective against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria that cause infections of the upper and lower respiratory tracts, gastrointestinal tracts, abdomen, and more, with excellent tissue penetration.[6]  It eliminates Streptococcus, Haemophilus, Chlamydia, Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA), Klebsiella, and numerous other bacteria, with very little antibiotic resistance to date.  It sounds like a dream. 

Now before you get all excited, thinking you can just get this one antibiotic to take care of everything you might possibly encounter in TEOTWAWKI, think again.  Moxifloxacin used to run about a dollar per pill from overseas pharmacies, pre-COVID.  And that’s the least of the concerns here.  Moxie, like other fluoroquinolones, can have some very nasty side effects, including spontaneous tendon rupture[7] and acute, even fatal liver injury.[8]  These pills aren’t Skittles. 

So why might you want some, and why does the military include them in the combat pill packs for soldiers?  Well, first, obviously, is because they work well to prevent infection and further complications.  Secondly, and this is really important to keep in mind, is that using moxifloxacin is like taking a shotgun approach to killing the bacteria.  It is used just once, until the injured patient can get more appropriate, targeted care, that is to say, until the most ideally suited antibiotic can be administered.  Instead of carrying a few doses of several different antibiotics to treat a wide array of bacteria, the soldier carries a single dose of moxie. 

And that’s what we do as well.  Our IFAKs and personal first-aid kits that we carry when we’re far away from medical facilities and our supplies contain just a single moxifloxacin tablet to be taken only if injured and there is the potential for infection, and only under a physician’s advice. 

So if you’ve decided moxie would be a good addition to your stores, how do you go about getting it?  As always, the best bet is to go through your personal physician.  If he recognizes the dicey situation our country is in, he may be willing and able to help, especially because you only need a couple of tablets at most.  Unfortunately, there are no fish or veterinary equivalents available.  Overseas pharmacies are the only other option. 

Though there are intravenous options, moxifloxacin is best administered orally, with lots of water (not just when taking the pill, but throughout the day and night as well), with or without food.  It should be taken at least four hours before or eight hours after consuming antacids that contain magnesium or aluminum or iron or zinc supplements (either alone or as part of a vitamin supplement). 

Caution.  Avoid sun exposure while using moxifloxacin.[9]

Contraindications.  Not for use in patients with myasthenia gravis or patients with a history of tendon issues.

Links to related posts:

Ciprofloxacin

Iron

Zinc

Antacids

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[1] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Moxifloxacin-hydrochloride

[2] https://accpjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1592/phco.20.4.245.34880

[3] http://www.operationalmedicine.org/TextbookFiles/FMST_20008/FMST_2_A.htm

[4] https://www.ems1.com/ems-products/ambulance-disposable-supplies/articles/antibiotics-in-the-tactical-ems-environment-vfdeX80bVgu0eXq5/  ; http://www.naemt.org/Files/TCCC/041114/TCCC%20Guidelines_131028.pdf

[5] https://accpjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1592/phco.20.4.245.34880

[6]https://accpjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1592/phco.20.4.245.34880

[7] https://www.drugs.com/monograph/moxifloxacin-hydrochloride.html

[8] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Moxifloxacin-hydrochloride

[9] https://www.drugs.com/monograph/moxifloxacin-hydrochloride.html

 

07.21.20