Azithromycin is an antibiotic medicine.
It's used to treat infections including:
- chest infections such as pneumonia
- ear, nose and throat and nose infections such as sinus infection (sinusitis)
- skin infections
- Lyme disease
- some sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
It can also be used long-term to prevent chest infections in people who keep getting them.
Azithromycin is from a group of medicines called macrolide antibiotics. Macrolide antibiotics work by killing the bacteria that cause the infection.
Azithromycin is available on prescription as capsules, tablets and a liquid that you swallow. It can also be given by injection, but this is usually only done in hospital.
Key facts
- You'll usually take azithromycin once a day. Try to take it at the same time each day.
- Take azithromycin capsules at least 1 hour before food or 2 hours after eating. You can take tablets or liquid with or without food.
- For most infections you should feel better within a few days, but it's important to finish your full course of medicine.
- The most common side effects of azithromycin are feeling or being sick, diarrhoea, headaches, or changes to your sense of taste.
- Some people get a fungal infection called thrush after taking a course of antibiotics like azithromycin. Symptoms of thrush in the mouth include redness and itching. Women may get vaginal itching.