Drug Database: Levofloxacin

What is levofloxacin?

Levofloxacin is an antibacterial prescription medicine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of certain bacterial infections, such as community-acquired pneumonia, acute worsening of chronic bronchitis, anthrax, urinary tract infections, acute sinus infections, and others.

Community-acquired pneumonia, a bacterial respiratory infection, can be an opportunistic infection (OI) of HIV. An OI is an infection that occurs more frequently or is more severe in people with weakened immune systems—such as people with HIV—than in people with healthy immune systems. To learn more about OIs, read the HIVinfo What is an Opportunistic Infection? fact sheet.

How is levofloxacin used in people with HIV?

The Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV and the Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Children with and Exposed to HIV include recommendations on the uses of levofloxacin in people with HIV to:

• Community-acquired pneumonia
• Disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection
• Active tuberculosis (TB) disease
• Certain bacterial enteric infections, such as salmonellosis (also known as Salmonella infection), shigellosis, and campylobacteriosis

• Disseminated MAC infection from recurring

The recommended uses may not always be consistent with FDA-approved uses of levofloxacin. See the Adult and Pediatric Opportunistic Infection Guidelines for complete information on recommended uses of levofloxacin in adults and children with HIV. Levofloxacin may have other recommended uses not listed above.

What should I tell my health care provider before using levofloxacin?

Before using levofloxacin, tell your health care provider:

• If you are allergic to levofloxacin or any other medicines.
• About any medical conditions you have or have had, including:
  • Myasthenia gravis (a disease that causes muscle weakness)
  • Tendon, bone, or joint problems, including rheumatoid arthritis
  • Liver or kidney problems
  • Central nervous system problems, including mental health problems, epilepsy, or seizures
  • Nerve problems, such as peripheral neuropathy
  • Diabetes or problems with low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
  • Heart problems
  • Low potassium or low magnesium
• About anything that could affect your ability to take medicines, such as difficulty swallowing pills, difficulty remembering to take pills, or any health conditions that may prevent your use of intravenous medicines.
• If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Levofloxacin should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus. Talk to your health care provider about the risks and benefits of using levofloxacin during pregnancy. The Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV may include other recommendations on the use of levofloxacin during pregnancy. Please refer to these guidelines for additional information.
• If you are breast/chestfeeding or plan to breast/chestfeed. For people with HIV in the United States, the Guideline recommends speaking with your health care provider to discuss options for feeding your baby. People with suppressed viral load have a less than 1% chance of transmitting HIV to their baby via their own milk. 
• About other prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbal products you are taking or plan to take. Levofloxacin may affect the way other medicines or products work, and other medicines or products may affect how levofloxacin works. Ask your health care provider if there are interactions between levofloxacin and the other medicines you take.

Ask your health care provider about possible side effects from levofloxacin. Your health care provider will tell you what to do if you have side effects.

How should I use levofloxacin?

Use levofloxacin according to your health care provider’s instructions. Your health care provider will tell you how much levofloxacin to use and when to use it. Before you start levofloxacin and each time you get a refill, read any printed information that comes with your medicine.

How should levofloxacin be stored?

• Store levofloxacin tablets and vials of levofloxacin injection solution at room temperature, 68°F to 77°F (20°C to 25°C).
• Store levofloxacin oral solution at 59°F to 86°F (15°C to 30°C).
• Keep levofloxacin in the container that it came in and keep the container tightly closed.
• Do not use levofloxacin if the original seal over the container opening is broken or missing.
• Throw away levofloxacin that is no longer needed or expired (out of date). Follow FDA guidelines on how to safely dispose of unused medicine.
• Keep levofloxacin and all medicines out of reach of children.

Where can I find more information about levofloxacin?

• Recommendations on the HIV-related uses of levofloxacin, from the Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV and the Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Children with and Exposed to HIV.
• This Patient Version drug summary is based on the following FDA label(s): Injection (solution); Oral solution; Tablet, film coated. The Medication Guide includes information for people using levofloxacin.
• The American Hospital Formulary Service (AHFS) Patient Medication Information for levofloxacin injection and levofloxacin available from MedlinePlus.
• Levofloxacin-related research studies, from ClinicalTrials.gov. (The ClinicalTrials.gov search can be modified so that you can get results that better match your interests. To learn more about the ClinicalTrials.gov search features, please see How to Search.)