Due to potential risks to the baby, the manufacturer does not recommend that nursing mothers take levofloxacin. However, the risk appears to be very low, and levofloxacin can be used in breastfeeding mothers with proper monitoring of the infant, combined with delaying breastfeeding for 4–6 hours after taking levofloxacin. Children
Levofloxacin is not approved in most countries for the treatment of children except in unique and life-threatening infections because it is associated with an elevated risk of musculoskeletal injury in this population, a property it shares with other fluoroquinolones. In the United States levofloxacin is approved for the treatment of anthrax and plague in children over six months of age.Levofloxacin is recommended by the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society and the Infectious Disease Society of America as a first-line treatment for pediatric pneumonia caused by penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, and as a second-line agent for the treatment of penicillin-sensitive cases.In one study, 1534 juvenile patients (age 6 months to 16 years) treated with levofloxacin as part of three efficacy trials were followed up to assess all musculoskeletal events occurring up to 12 months post-treatment. At 12 months follow-up the cumulative incidence of musculoskeletal adverse events was 3.4%, compared to 1.8% among 893 patients treated with other antibiotics. In the levafloxacin-treated group, approximately two-thirds of these musculoskeletal adverse events occurred in the first 60 days, 86% were mild, 17% were moderate, and all resolved without long-term sequelae.
Cervical weakness, also called cervical incompetence or cervical insufficiency, is a medical condition of pregnancy in which the cervix begins to dilate (widen) and efface (thin) before the pregnancy has reached term. Definitions of cervical weakness vary, but one that is frequently used is the inability of the uterine cervix to retain a pregnancy in the absence of the signs and symptoms of clinical contractions, or labor, or both in the second trimester. Cervical weakness may cause miscarriage or preterm birth during the second and third trimesters. It has been estimated that cervical insufficiency complicates about 1% of pregnancies, and that it is a cause in about 8% of women with second trimester recurrent miscarriages.A sign of cervical weakness is funneling at the internal orifice of the uterus, which is a dilation of the cervical canal at this location.In cases of cervical weakness, dilation and effacement of the cervix may occur without pain or uterine contractions. In a normal pregnancy, dilation and effacement occurs in response to uterine contractions. Cervical weakness becomes a problem when the cervix is pushed to open by the growing pressure in the uterus as pregnancy progresses. If the responses are not halted, rupture of the membranes and birth of a premature baby can result. The older terminology is perceived as blaming the woman for the miscarriage, as if she were an incompetent or insufficient person. Consequently, cervical weakness is the recommended term.