Antibiotics given for cellulitis

Tablets or liquid may suit a person who is otherwise stable, while intravenous treatment and hospital monitoring may be needed for severe illness, rapid spread, a high-risk location or difficulty taking oral medicine.

Cellulitis is a bacterial infection in deeper skin and nearby soft tissue. Clinicians assess the affected body area, possible entry point, pus or an abscess, allergies, kidney or liver problems, pregnancy, immune status, recent antibiotics and previous resistant infections.

An abscess may need drainage because medicine alone may not clear a pocket of pus. A sample is sometimes taken from drainage or an open wound so treatment can be adjusted if the initial antibiotic does not cover the identified bacterium.

Follow the dose instructions and finish the course unless the prescriber changes it. Do not save doses for later or share them. Tell the clinician promptly about troublesome side effects; facial or tongue swelling, wheezing or breathing difficulty after a dose needs emergency care.

Rest and raise an affected arm or leg when comfortable to ease swelling. Drink enough fluid unless you have been told to restrict it, protect any wound with a clean dressing, and treat athlete's foot, cracked skin or another entry point as advised.

Seek urgent reassessment if redness continues to expand, pain or swelling increases, fever or vomiting develops, red streaks appear, new blisters form, or you feel more unwell after starting treatment. The clinician may need to reconsider the diagnosis, drain pus or change the antibiotic route.

Call emergency services for confusion, collapse, severe breathing difficulty, very rapid progression, intense pain out of proportion to the visible skin changes, or dark, dusky or numb skin. Cellulitis around an eye, with eye pain or altered vision, also requires urgent specialist assessment.

Ask when improvement should be apparent, whether the edge of redness should be monitored, which side effects matter, whether a wound needs dressing or drainage, and how to reduce another episode once this infection settles.