User:Mr. Ibrahem/Doxycycline

Doxycycline is an antibiotic used in the treatment of infections caused by bacteria and certain parasites. It is used to treat bacterial pneumonia, acne, chlamydia infections, early Lyme disease, cholera, typhus, and syphilis. It is also used to prevent malaria and in combination with quinine, to treat malaria. Doxycycline may be taken by mouth or by injection into a vein.

Common side effects include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and an increased risk of sunburn. There have been concerns in the first trimester of pregnancy or in young children may result in permanent discoloration of the teeth. Though in children this does not occur with normal doses. Its use during breastfeeding is probably safe. Doxycycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, of the tetracycline class. Like other agents of this class, it either slows or kills bacteria by inhibiting protein production. It kills malaria by targeting a plastid organelle, the apicoplast.

Doxycycline was patented in 1957 and came into commercial use in 1967. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Doxycycline is available as a generic medicine and is generally inexpensive. The wholesale cost in the developing world is between US$0.01 and US$0.04 per pill. In the United States, ten days of treatment has a wholesale costs of about US$3.40 as of 2019. However, in 2014, due to supply issues, it was being sold for as much as US$60–200 for that amount. In 2017, it was the 113th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than six million prescriptions.