Cefuroxime 125mg/5ml oral suspension
Broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic resistant to beta-lactamase.
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
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Official medicine documents
Yellow Card
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Drug safety updates
MHRA alerts for Cefuroxime
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Cefuroxime
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Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) collects suspected adverse reaction reports from across the EU/EEA through the EudraVigilance system. Search for safety data on this medicine.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Cefuroxime
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EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
1 branded products available
WHO defined daily dose (DDD)
500 mg
Not a recommended dose. The DDD is the assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in adults. It is a statistical measure used for research and comparison purposes only.
Source: WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology, distributed via the NHS dm+d supplementary mapping files (NHSBSA). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity is based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and on a factual NHS dm+d therapeutic-grouping code prefix. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NICE clinical guidance(11)
Pyelonephritis (acute): antimicrobial prescribing (NG111)
Urinary tract infection (catheter-associated): antimicrobial prescribing (NG113)
Human and animal bites: antimicrobial prescribing (NG184)
Prostatitis (acute): antimicrobial prescribing (NG110)
Cellulitis and erysipelas: antimicrobial prescribing (NG141)
Diverticular disease: diagnosis and management (NG147)
Cataracts in adults: management (NG77)
Urinary tract infection (lower): antimicrobial prescribing (NG109)
Otitis media (acute): antimicrobial prescribing (NG91)
Complicated intra-abdominal infections: ceftolozane/tazobactam (ESNM75)
Pneumonia: diagnosis and management (NG250)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
Pharmacy stock checkers
Search for this medicine at major UK pharmacy chains. These links open the retailer's own website — results depend on their current online catalogue.
Supply & safety information
Official UK regulator monitoring and safety alerts
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. Shortage and safety information sourced from MHRA drug safety updates (gov.uk, Crown Copyright under OGL v3.0).
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing the 50 most relevant studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 11 · Randomised trials: 3 · 1983–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
R. Bowen, A. Zhou, Sailaja Bondalapati, et al.
The British journal of ophthalmology, 2018
Wang SS, Zhu BJ, Huang JN, et al.
2025
This review is to elucidate the retinal toxicity following intraocular injections of cefuroxime, including possible risk factors, clinical manifestations, visual prognosis and treatment. Refereed publications were retrieved from PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and EMBASE databases, using the search terms cefuroxime, retina, macular edema, serous retinal detachment, toxic, cataract surgery. The screening was not limited by publication date, country or study type. We screened out 51 articles out of which 32 met the inclusion criteria for this systematic review. Data regarding sample size calculation reporting and trial characteristics were extracted for each trial. Retinal toxicity can be caused by both high and standard doses of cefuroxime injections in different ethnic groups, with risk factors including overdose, blood-retinal barrier disruption, anterior and posterior chamber connection. The typical clinical manifestations of retinal toxicity are cystoid macular edema and extensive serous retinal detachment, mainly involving the outer nuclear and outer plexiform layers, with a good prognosis for visual acuity in most cases, but in a small number of cases, the prognosis is not satisfactory. In conclusion, though the current use of intracameral injection antibiotics in cataract surgery is gradually increasing, the potential risks should not be ignored. Unexplained poor vision on the first day after cataract surgery can be supplemented with macular optical coherence tomography to rule out cefuroxime-related retinal toxicity.
Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND
N. Ahmed, Abdul Haseeb, A. Alamer, et al.
Antibiotics, 2022
Liu T, Zhao R, Zhang H, et al.
2025
Mikkel Tøttrup, K. Søballe, B. Bibby, et al.
APMIS, 2019
Wei Fu, Zhiqiang Song, Liya Zhou, et al.
Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 2017
Prof. Dr. H. Knothe, P. D. P. Shah, Dr. V. Krcmery, et al.
Infection, 1983
T. M. File, J. Segreti, L. Dunbar, et al.
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 1997
J. Sirvent, A. Torres, M. El-Ebiary, et al.
American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 1997
P. Montan, Gisela Wejde, G. Koranyi, et al.
Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, 2002
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
194 found
Half-life
80 minutes
Mechanism
Cefuroxime, like the penicillins, is a beta-lactam antibiotic.
Food interactions
1 warning
Human targets
None mapped
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
37%
Half-life
80 minutes
Protein binding
50%
Metabolism
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Known interactions with other medicines. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 834 interactions
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
Proteins that transport this drug across cell membranes
PMID:15521010 PMID:18367661 PMID:19685173 PMID:26320580 PMID:7896779 PMID:8914574 PMID:9835627
Primarily responsible for the absorption of dietary di- and tripeptides from the small intestinal lumen (By similarity). Mediates transepithelial transport of muramyl and N-formylated bacterial dipeptides contributing to recognition of pathogenic bacteria by the mucosal immune system PMID:15521010 PMID:9835627
PMID:16434549 PMID:18367661 PMID:7756356
Transports neutral and anionic dipeptides with a proton to peptide stoichiometry of 2:1 or 3:1 (By similarity). In kidney, involved in the absorption of circulating di- and tripeptides from the glomerular filtrate .
PMID:7756356
Can also transport beta-lactam antibiotics, such as the aminocephalosporin cefadroxil, and other antiviral and anticancer drugs .
PMID:16434549
Transports the dipeptide-like aminopeptidase inhibitor bestatin (By similarity). Also able to transport carnosine .
PMID:31073693
Involved in innate immunity by promoting the detection of microbial pathogens by NOD-like receptors (NLRs) (By similarity).
Mediates transport of bacterial peptidoglycans across the plasma membrane or, in macrophages, the phagosome membrane: catalyzes the transport of certain bacterial peptidoglycans, such as muramyl dipeptide (MDP), the NOD2 ligand PMID:20406817
ATC S01AA27
ATC J01DC02
ATC J01RA03
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Show
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Cefuroxime
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
11118
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
8358
ChemSpider
4586393
BindingDB
50422689
PDB
KOV
ZINC
ZINC000003871978
GenBank Gene Database
BA000016
GenBank Protein Database
18145626
UniProt Accession
PBPA_CLOPE
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10920
GenAtlas
SLC15A1
GeneCards
SLC15A1
GenBank Gene Database
U13173
GenBank Protein Database
773588
Guide to Pharmacology
984
UniProt Accession
S15A1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10921
GenAtlas
SLC15A2
GeneCards
SLC15A2
GenBank Gene Database
S78203
GenBank Protein Database
999213
Guide to Pharmacology
985
UniProt Accession
S15A2_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite:
- DrugBank 6.02024Recommended citationKnox C., Wilson M., Klinger C.M., et alDrugBank 6.0: the DrugBank Knowledgebase for 2024Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 Jan 552(D1):D1265-D1275
- DrugBank 5.02018Wishart D.S., Feunang Y.D., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank 5.0: a major update to the DrugBank database for 2018Nucleic Acids Res. 2017 Nov 846(D1):D1074-D1082
- DrugBank 4.02014Law V., Knox C., Djoumbou Y., et alDrugBank 4.0: shedding new light on drug metabolismNucleic Acids Res. 2014 Jan 142(1):D1091-7
- DrugBank 3.02011Knox C., Law V., Jewison T., et alDrugBank 3.0: a comprehensive resource for 'omics' research on drugsNucleic Acids Res. 2011 Jan39(Database issue):D1035-41
- DrugBank 2.02008Wishart D.S., Knox C., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank: a knowledgebase for drugs, drug actions and drug targets.Nucleic Acids Research2008 Jan36(Database issue):D901-6
- DrugBank 1.02006Wishart D.S., Knox C., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank: a comprehensive resource for in silico drug discovery and exploration.Nucleic Acids Research2006 Jan 134(Database issue):D668-72