Johns Hopkins ABX Guide
Cefotaxime
INDICATIONS
FDA
FDA
- Lower respiratory tract infections, including community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia.
- Genitourinary infections
- Gynecologic infection (including pelvic inflammatory disease, endometritis, and pelvic cellulitis)
- Bacteremia and septicemia
- Skin and skin-structure infections
- Intra-abdominal infections, including peritonitis
- Bone and joint infections
- Central nervous system infections, including meningitis and ventriculitis
NON-FDA APPROVED USES
NON-FDA APPROVED USES
- Brain abscess (in combination with metronidazole)
- Empyema (in combination with metronidazole)
- Lyme disease: late Lyme arthritis and neuroborreliosis
- Ceftriaxone is generally preferred because of once-daily dosing, although cefotaxime is therapeutically equivalent.
- STD (Neisseria gonorrhoeae)
- Ceftriaxone is the recommended CDC regimen. Cefotaxime is now rarely used.
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Last updated: July 2, 2026
Citation
Tsai, Y. V, and Kathryn Dzintars. "Cefotaxime." Johns Hopkins ABX Guide, The Johns Hopkins University, 2026. Pediatrics Central, peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540095/all/Cefotaxime.
Tsai YV, Dzintars K. Cefotaxime. Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2026. https://peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540095/all/Cefotaxime. Accessed August 22, 2026.
Tsai, Y. V., & Dzintars, K. (2026). Cefotaxime. In Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The Johns Hopkins University. https://peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540095/all/Cefotaxime
Tsai YV, Dzintars K. Cefotaxime [Internet]. In: Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2026. [cited 2026 August 22]. Available from: https://peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540095/all/Cefotaxime.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - ELEC
T1 - Cefotaxime
ID - 540095
A1 - Tsai,Y.,Pharm.D.
AU - Dzintars,Kathryn,Pharm.D. BCPS
Y1 - 2026/07/02/
BT - Johns Hopkins ABX Guide
UR - https://peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540095/all/Cefotaxime
PB - The Johns Hopkins University
DB - Pediatrics Central
DP - Unbound Medicine
ER -
