Q: My wife is 9 weeks pregnant. In the 5th week she was suffering from severe cough. The doctor gave her Honitus ayurvedic cough syrup but she did not get any relief. The doctor then gave her Cepodem -200 (Cefpodoxime 200) for 5 days. Even then she didn't get relief, so she changed to antibiotic Doxinate (Doxylamine + Pyridoxine) for 5 days. After taking this she became fine and the medicine was stopped. I found that Cepodem is not allowed in pregnancy. My wife has already taken it for 5 days during the 6th week of pregnancy. My wife's blood group is AB- and this is her second pregnancy. After her first delivery the doctor gave her the injection required for negative blood group mother. My first child was A+. I don't know the name of the injection. I am very scared about the coming child. What will be the impact of this medicine on my coming child, will she be disabled Should we go for an abortion? My wife is fine.

A:Cefpodoxime is a kind of penicillin. Animal studies have shown that it does not cause any harm to the unborn baby. However, due to ethical reasons similar tests cannot be done in humans. Therefore its safety in human pregnancy has not been established. This does not mean that it is unsafe. There is absolutely no reason to terminate pregnancy. Just for the sake of abundant precaution and peace of mind, the development of baby should be followed through serial ultrasound examinations. Cefpodoxime is a reserve medicine - not first line treatment for respiratory infections. We only use it for either recurrent or chronic respiratory tract infections that do not respond to other antibiotics. Most acute respiratory tract infections in India are due to viruses for which no medicine works except time. Incidentally Doxinate is not an antibiotic but a medicine to stop nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. Your wife got alright on her own, certainly not because of Doxinate.