Where There Is No Doctor 2011 67
WHEN NOT TO INJECT:
Never give injections if you can get medical help quickly.
Never give an injection for a sickness that is not serious.
Never give injections for a cold or the flu.
Never inject a medicine that is not recommended for the illness you
want to treat.
Never give an injection unless your needle has been boiled or sterilized.
Never inject a medicine unless you know and take all the recommended
precautions.
MEDICINES NOT TO INJECT
In general, it is better never to inject the following:
1. Vitamins. Rarely are injected vitamins any better than vitamins taken by
mouth. Injections are more expensive and more dangerous. Use vitamin pills or
syrups rather than injections. Better still, eat foods rich in vitamins (see p. 111).
2. Liver extract, vitamin B12, and iron injections (such as Inferon). Injecting
these can cause abscesses or dangerous reactions (shock, p. 70). Ferrous sulfate
pills will do more good for almost all cases of anemia (p. 392).
3. Calcium. Injected into a vein calcium is extremely dangerous, if not given
very slowly. An injection in the buttock may cause a large abscess. Untrained
people should never inject calcium.
4. Penicillin. Nearly all infections that require penicillin can be effectively treated
with penicillin taken by mouth. Penicillin is more dangerous when injected. Use
injectable penicillin only for dangerous infections.
5. Penicillin with streptomycin. As a general rule, avoid this combined
medicine. Never use it for colds or the flu because it does not work. It can cause
serious problems sometimes deafness or death. Also, overuse makes it more
difficult to cure tuberculosis or other serious illness.
6. Chloramphenicol or tetracycline. These medicines do as much or more
good when taken by mouth. Use capsules or syrups rather than injections (p. 355
and 356).
7. Intravenous (I.V.) solutions. These should be used only for severe
dehydration and given only by someone who is well trained. When not given
correctly they can cause dangerous infections or death (p. 53).
8. Intravenous medicines. There is so much danger in injecting any medicine in
the vein that only well trained health workers should do it. However, never inject into
a muscle (the buttock) medicine that says ‘for intravenous use only’. Also, never
inject in the vein medicine that says ‘for intramuscular use only’.