Azitromycine/Azeetop 500mg

Azitromycine 500mg is a macrolide antibiotic, also sold as azithromycin and under brand names such as Azeetop 500. Its main selling point is the short course. Whereas some antibiotics keep you dosing for a week or more, this one usually takes three days to finish.

Chest infections and pneumonia, sinus and throat infections, ear infections, some skin infections, and a number of sexually transmitted infections. It reaches high concentrations inside tissue and stays there, which is why the course can be so short.

One notable change involves the treatment of chlamydia. The 2025 European guideline now prefers doxycycline over a single dose of azitromycine. So if you were treated for chlamydia years ago with a one-off dose, that is not the first-line treatment in Europe anymore.

How it's taken. The usual adult course is one 500mg tablet daily for three days. Some doctors prescribe 500mg on day one and then 250mg daily for four more days. Tablets can be taken with or without food. Take them at the same time every day.

Azitromycine 500mg side effects. Around 1 in 10 people will get an upset stomach: nausea, diarrhoea, cramping. These are generally mild. The one that matters more is heart rhythm. This drug can cause the QT interval to lengthen, which in rare cases leads to a serious arrhythmia. Tell your doctor before you start if you have a heart rhythm problem, congenital long QT syndrome or heart failure, or if you take other medicines that lengthen the QT interval. Chest pain, fainting or a racing heartbeat during treatment needs urgent help. Call 112 in an emergency. Hearing changes and yellowing of the eyes or skin are less common, but both need medical attention.