Azithromycin is used widely in clinical practice and recently it is available in
topical solution for ophthalmic use. The purpose of the current publication is
to summarize the newest information on azithromycin’s clinical usefulness over
ocular diseases. A PubMed (National Library of Medicine) and a ScienceDirect
search was conducted using the key phrases ‘azithromycin’, ‘meibomian’,
‘blepharitis’, ‘trachoma’, ‘toxoplasmosis’ from 2010 to 2017. Articles were
limited to articles published in English or at least having an English abstract.
There were no restrictions on age, ethnicity, or geographic locations of
patients. Topical azithromycin was found effective and safe in various ocular
surface infections, in meibomian gland dysfunction and in trachoma. Also, it may
substitute fluoroquinolones in corneal UV cross-linking. The World Health
Organization targets for trachoma elimination are being reached only after 3
years of annual mass drug administration. Oral azithromycin can participate in
combination regiments for toxoplasmosis, mainly because of its very good safety
profile and may play a significant role in toxoplasmosis in pregnancy.
Azithromycin is one of the safest antibiotics, well tolerated, and with special
pharmacokinetic properties. Also, it is characterized by a broad antimicrobial
spectrum. Azithromycin is efficacious for the treatment of a lot of ocular
diseases and may be included as monotherapy or in combination therapy in new
treatment protocols for more ocular infections. However, more research is needed
to determine this.