Title: Sulfa drug | medicine | Britannica
Headings: Sulfa drug
Sulfa drug
medicine
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:

Content: Though the medicine was relatively safe, allergic reactions such as skin rashes, fever, nausea, vomiting, and even mental confusion were common. With the introduction of less-toxic derivatives and especially with the mass production of penicillin, its use declined. Many other sulfa drugs were derived from sulfanilamide in the 1940s, including sulfathiazole (systemic bacterial infections), sulfadiazine (urinary tract and intestinal tract infections), and sulfamethazine (urinary tract infections). However, all sulfa drugs induced some of the side effects listed above, and bacteria developed resistant strains after exposure to the drugs. Within a few decades many of the sulfa drugs had lost favour to more-effective and less-toxic antibiotics. Trisulfapyrimidine (triple sulfa), a combination of sulfadiazine, sulfamerazine, and sulfamethazine, is used in the treatment of vaginal infections, and several sulfa drugs are used in combination with antibiotics to treat a wide range of conditions, from skin burns to malaria to pneumonia in HIV/ AIDS patients. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now
Sulfa drugs are bacteriostatic; i.e., they inhibit the growth and multiplication of bacteria but do not kill them. They act by interfering with the synthesis of folic acid (folate), a member of the vitamin B complex present in all living cells.