# Different Antibotics and Anthrax **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 2001, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-antibotics-and-anthrax/91049 "2001-11-02T03:21:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-antibotics-and-anthrax/91049/1 "2001-11-02T03:21:03Z")
I have an old PDR (from 1997) and it lists Minocin as a treatment for Anthrax. Why don’t we hear anything about this drug? Also it indicates Minocin is a form of tetracycline. The other drug Doryx(doxycycline) is not listed for anthrax but I hear the government is now recommending it. It too is indicated as a form of tetracycline. How come tetracycline isn’t indicated for Anthrax then? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-antibotics-and-anthrax/91049/2 "2001-11-02T03:25:40Z")
Eh, just off the top of my head, I read in the Chicago _Tribune_, possibly yesterday, that it depends on what strain of anthrax you’re dealing with. The Russian strain is resistant to tetracycline and penicillin, because the Russians spent some time Back In The Days creating a strain that would be resistant to these two common antibiotics. So Cipro and its generic equivalents are the antibiotics of choice for this strain. But other strains, like the Ames Strain, are susceptible to tetracycline and penicillin. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-antibotics-and-anthrax/91049/3 "2001-11-02T03:28:37Z")
Huh. Found it. [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/oped/chi-0110290193oct29.story](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/oped/chi-0110290193oct29.story) > [@](#): > > How to corral the anthrax misstatements > > Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post Writers Group > Published October 29, 2001 > > Why is Cipro recommended? Because it happened to have been used effectively on animals infected experimentally. And because Bayer was the one company that bothered to get FDA approval for the treatment of a disease that nobody has seen in the United States since 1978. > > But Cipro is just one fluroquinolone, a class of antibiotic. The other fluroquinolones should be equally effective. (I know of at least two.) Moreover, naturally occurring anthrax is susceptible not just to Cipro (i.e., fluroquinolones) but to two other extremely common classes of antibiotic: tetracycline (and the related doxycycline), and penicillin (the oldest and most ubiquitous). > > Why Cipro? Because the Soviets, bless their hearts, spent decades trying to produce a strain of anthrax resistant to all potential antibiotic cures. They achieved, as Jimmy Carter once said of the Iran rescue mission, a partial success. The Ruskie strain is resistant to penicillin and tetracycline. That is where Cipro comes in. But unless you inhale the Ruskie strain–and there is no evidence that the bad guys have any of it; all the anthrax cases thus far are non-Ruskie types–you are safe with garden-variety penicillin and tetracycline. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-antibotics-and-anthrax/91049/4 "2001-11-03T00:25:05Z")
Specifically as to why they recommend doxycycline rather tahn tertracyline, I imagine it’s a side effects issue. Tetracyline is notorious for causing stomach upset, and should be given to young people, because it causes permenant black teeth (really). There is some evidence in mice that tetracycline, but not doxycycline, can cause neurological abnormalities in developing embryos if the patient is pregnant. So even though both antibiotics kill a very similar range of organisms, and I’m sure tetracylcline would work perfectly well against anthrax, there are reasons to recommend doxycyline for widespread usage. mischievous ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-antibotics-and-anthrax/91049/5 "2001-11-03T00:28:14Z")
Um, make that “should not” be given to young people. I’m not sure what the age cut-off is but I seem to remember it’s around 13. mischievous ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-antibotics-and-anthrax/91049/6 "2001-11-03T02:18:18Z")
Actually my PDR (which like I said is from '97 so may be outdated) indicates the same side effects (teeth included) for tetracycline as doxycycline. Both are not recommended for kids under 9 years old. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-antibotics-and-anthrax/91049/7 "2001-11-03T08:38:56Z")
Hmmm… I stand corrected. Thanks for the info. mischievous