Vancomycin is an oral antibiotic used to treat an infection in the intestines caused specifically by the bacterial strain Clostridium difficile.
When Clostridium difficile, also known as C. difficile, infects the colon or small intestines, it can cause severe inflammation and bloody or watery diarrhea.
The CDC estimates that 453,000 infections are caused by C. difficile each year in the United States. Of those infections, over 29,300 are deadly.
Another antibiotic, metronidazole, also known as Flagyl, can also be used to fight C. Difficile infections if vancomycin does not work due to antibiotic immunity.
Vancomycin can also be used to treat staph infections since so many strains of bacteria in the body have become immune or unresponsive to traditional antibiotics used to fight staph bacteria.
In addition, injections of vancomycin can be used to treat additional infections, like heart valve disease, and other serious infections outside of the digestive system.
Currently, oral doses of vancomycin are the most commonly prescribed antibiotics for intestinal infections, but you may be wondering if this drug is right for you.
On this page, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about vancomycin, explain how it works, make you aware of side effects, and show you how you can save money on vancomycin prescriptions.