Taking the antidepressant Prozac increases the risk of infection by a hospital bug, a study has shown.
Scientists have found certain drugs could be the reason for an unexplained link between depression and Clostridium difficile (C.diff) infection.
Although most types of antidepressant did not affect infection risk, a strong association was seen with two out of 12 drugs investigated.
Mirtazapine and fluoxetine – better known as Prozac – both doubled the likelihood of acquiring the bug.
The University of Michigan team found severely depressed people had a significantly higher risk of C.diff infection than those not suffering from depression. Their chances of being infected were raised by 36%.
Older and widowed patients were also more likely to catch the bug, as were people living alone.
Study leader Dr Mary Rogers said: "We have long known depression is associated with changes in the gastrointestinal system. Our finding of a link between depression and C.diff should help us better identify those at risk of infection."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article