Ceftazidime is a third-generation cephalosporin antibiotic given by injection, and the one in its class that reliably kills Pseudomonas aeruginosa — the hard, water-loving bacterium behind so many infections picked up on wards, in burns units and around catheters and ventilators. Where ceftriaxone is the everyday injectable cephalosporin of Nigerian hospitals, ceftazidime is the one reached for when the infection is hospital-acquired, when a culture grows Pseudomonas, or when a patient with no immune defences develops a fever. It is weaker than ceftriaxone against the pneumococcus and staphylococci, so it is not a general-purpose replacement.
In the NAFDAC register
9 registered products
from 9 registration holders
What it costs online
Price varies — check with a pharmacy. This drug has not yet appeared in our fortnightly sampling of Nigerian online pharmacies.
Brands of Ceftazidime in Nigeria
Those 9 products from 9 registration holders, counted in our October 2026 copy of the register, include combination products and older listings; below are the most common brands.
| Brand Name | Manufacturer | Strength | Form | NAFDAC Reg. No. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prexidime Injection | Precious Trust Limited | 1 g | Injection | B4-4814 |
| Vaxcel Ceftazidime 1 g Injection | Dortemag Ventures Limited | 1 g | Injection | A4-3169 |
| Pretaxime Injection | Chinare Ani Pharmaceuticals Ltd | 1 g | Injection | A4-3808 |
| Tadizime Injection | Solution Pharmaceuticals Nigeria Limited | 1 g | Injection | A4-0748 |
| Fortcef 1 g Injection | Embassy Pharmaceutical and Chemicals Limited | 1 g | Injection | C4-0247 |
| Taxiject Injection | Manfes Pharmaceutical Company Limited | 1 g | Injection | A4-4241 |
| Bioszime Injection | Chez Resources Pharmaceutical Limited | 1 g | Injection | B4-1336 |
| Pitum Injection 1000 mg | Pinnacle Health Pharmaceutical & Stores Ltd | 1 g | Injection | B4-8939 |
Ceftazidime Price in Nigeria
Our sampled online pharmacies held no ceftazidime listing this cycle, so we quote no price. It is a hospital injection rather than a shelf medicine: a 1 g vial of an Indian or Chinese generic is bought by wards, private hospitals and a few pharmacies near them, usually by the vial or the box of ten, and the price moves with the naira because every registered product is imported. Ask a licensed pharmacy or hospital pharmacy for the price per vial and check the NAFDAC number on the carton.
We show a price here once it appears in our monthly sampling of Nigerian online pharmacies (MedPlus, HealthPlus), or when we have a reliable market figure. For now, confirm the current price directly with a licensed pharmacy.
How to Verify Your Ceftazidime is Genuine
- 1Every vial and its carton should carry a NAFDAC registration number. In our October 2026 copy of the register the current 1 g products are Prexidime (B4-4814, Precious Trust, to October 2026), Vaxcel Ceftazidime (A4-3169, Dortemag, to December 2026), Pretaxime (A4-3808, Chinare Ani, to 2030) and Tadizime (A4-0748, Solution Pharmaceuticals, to 2030)
- 2Fortcef 1 g (C4-0247, Embassy Pharmaceutical) is recorded Expired since December 2024 and Pitum (B4-8939) since July 2025; Bioszime (B4-1336) and Taxiject (A4-4241) are recorded Inactive from August 2026. A vial under any of these names should be checked by its printed number, batch and expiry, and the renewal confirmed on the official Greenbook before a ward relies on it
- 3Zavicefta (A4-100347, Pfizer) is ceftazidime with avibactam, a different medicine for resistant organisms under specialist direction — it is not a substitute for a 1 g ceftazidime vial
- 4Enter the number in our free NAFDAC checker and confirm the product name, strength and holder match the carton. Refuse a vial whose powder has turned dark or caked: ceftazidime spoils in heat and the colour tells you
Where to Buy
Buying Ceftazidime wholesale, by the carton
Cartons of ceftazidime are bought at Nigeria's open drug markets: Idumota Market in Lagos, Ariaria Market in Aba, Ogbogwu Market in Onitsha and Sabon Gari Market in Kano. Each guide says where the market is and how to buy there safely; where we list sellers, they are named.
- Idumota Market, Lagos · wholesale sellers in Idumota Market
- Ariaria Market, Aba
- Ogbogwu Market, Onitsha
- Sabon Gari Market, Kano
No shop we list has Ceftazidime on its confirmed product list yet — the market guides still tell you where the trade happens and how to buy there safely.
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Wherever you buy, buy only from licensed pharmacies and verified distributors — not roadside vendors — and verify the pack's NAFDAC registration before you pay. Buying Ceftazidime in bulk or for resale? See how to buy medicines in bulk in Nigeria safely.
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What is Ceftazidime?
It comes as a powder in a vial, 1 g in every product registered in Nigeria, dissolved in water for injection and given into a vein or a large muscle every eight hours. Nothing is made locally: in our October 2026 copy of the NAFDAC register ceftazidime has five active registrations, one of them the ceftazidime-avibactam combination Zavicefta, and the plain 1 g vials come from India, Malaysia and China under names like Prexidime, Vaxcel, Pretaxime and Tadizime. Fortcef, the name buyers still ask for, is recorded Expired since December 2024; Bioszime and Taxiject flipped to Inactive in August 2026, and the two current registrations held by Precious Trust and Dortemag fall due in the last quarter of 2026. A ward that depends on one brand should watch this list.
Like every broad-spectrum antibiotic it is a medicine to use with care: three to seven days of ceftazidime select for resistant gut bacteria and Clostridioides difficile, and the WHO places it in the Watch group of its AWaRe classification — for specific indications, not for 'covering' a fever in an outpatient. It is dosed by kidney function, and the commonest serious harm in Nigerian practice is confusion or seizures in an older patient with poor kidneys who was given the full adult dose.
What is Ceftazidime used for?
In Nigeria, Ceftazidime is commonly used for:
- Infections caused by, or likely to involve, Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia
- Febrile neutropenia (empirical, usually with an aminoglycoside)
- Complicated urinary tract infections and pyelonephritis resistant to first-line drugs
- Infected burns, deep diabetic foot infections and osteomyelitis from gram-negative organisms
- Bacterial meningitis and septicaemia from gram-negative bacilli, including in neonates
- Intra-abdominal infections, in combination with metronidazole
- Lung infections in cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis
Dosage
IMPORTANT
Always follow your doctor's or pharmacist's instructions. The information below is for general reference only.
Adults
1 g every eight hours intravenously or by deep intramuscular injection for most infections; 2 g every eight hours (up to 6 g a day) for severe infections, Pseudomonas pneumonia, meningitis and febrile neutropenia. Urinary tract infections may be treated with 500 mg to 1 g every twelve hours. Reconstitute the 1 g vial with the diluent on the leaflet — about 3 mL of water for injection for intramuscular use, 10 mL for a slow intravenous push over three to five minutes, or dilute further into 50 to 100 mL of saline or dextrose for a 15 to 30 minute infusion. Reduce the dose and lengthen the interval when kidney function is reduced: roughly 1 g every twelve hours at a creatinine clearance of 31 to 50 mL/min, 1 g every 24 hours at 16 to 30, 500 mg every 24 hours at 6 to 15, and 500 mg every 48 hours on dialysis, given after the session.
Children
Infants over two months and children: 25 to 50 mg per kg every eight hours (up to 150 mg/kg a day, maximum 6 g a day), the higher dose for Pseudomonas, meningitis and immunocompromised children. Neonates: 25 to 60 mg per kg a day in two divided doses, because the newborn kidney clears it slowly. Weigh the child; do not estimate.
Elderly
Older adults often have less kidney function than their creatinine suggests. Calculate clearance and adjust the dose; the usual ceiling is 3 g a day over 80 years. Neurological side effects — confusion, twitching, seizures — are the sign of a dose too high for the kidneys.
Store unopened vials below 25 °C and away from light; in a hot store the powder darkens, which is a reason to refuse it. Reconstituted solution is pale yellow to amber, releases carbon dioxide (vent the vial), and should be used at once or within 24 hours in a refrigerator. Do not mix it in the same syringe or line as an aminoglycoside (gentamicin, amikacin), sodium bicarbonate or vancomycin. Review every course at 48 to 72 hours against the culture result and stop or narrow when you can.
Side Effects
General information for a reader holding a pack, not a substitute for a doctor or pharmacist. If something on the serious list is happening, seek care now.
Common side effects
- •Diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal discomfort
- •Pain, redness or phlebitis at the injection or infusion site
- •Rash, itching, drug fever
- •Raised liver enzymes and eosinophils on blood tests, usually without symptoms
- •A positive Coombs test without anaemia
- •Oral or vaginal thrush after a course
Serious side effects — seek medical help immediately
- Clostridioides difficile colitis: watery or bloody diarrhoea with cramps and fever during or weeks after treatment
- Anaphylaxis and severe skin reactions (Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis) — rare, more likely with a history of immediate penicillin allergy
- Encephalopathy, myoclonus and seizures, almost always when the dose was not reduced for kidney failure
- Haemolytic anaemia, low platelets or low white cells on long courses
- Kidney injury when combined with aminoglycosides or loop diuretics in a dehydrated patient
When to see a doctor
Report at once any rash with blistering or mouth sores, wheeze or swelling of the face during an infusion, new confusion or jerking movements, or diarrhoea with blood or more than four loose stools a day. A fever that persists after 72 hours of ceftazidime means the organism is not covered or there is an undrained collection — the answer is a culture and a review, not a longer course.
Warnings & Precautions
General information for a reader holding a pack, not a substitute for a doctor or pharmacist. If something on the serious list is happening, seek care now.
Do not take Ceftazidime if you have:
- Known allergy to ceftazidime or any cephalosporin
- A history of anaphylaxis or other immediate severe reaction to a penicillin or carbapenem — use only if no alternative and under supervision
- Neonates under seven days with jaundice are usually treated with other agents; follow neonatal unit protocol
Drug interactions
- •Aminoglycosides (gentamicin, amikacin) — often combined deliberately for Pseudomonas, but the pair adds kidney risk; monitor creatinine and never mix them in one line
- •Loop diuretics (furosemide) in high doses — added kidney toxicity
- •Chloramphenicol — antagonism in the laboratory; avoid the combination
- •Probenecid — raises and prolongs ceftazidime levels
- •Warfarin and other coumarin anticoagulants — the INR can rise; check it during the course
- •Oral typhoid vaccine — inactivated by antibiotics; separate by at least three days
- •Laboratory: can give a false positive urine glucose on copper-reduction tests and a positive direct Coombs test
Pregnancy & Breastfeeding
Ceftazidime crosses the placenta but has not been linked to birth defects and is used in pregnancy when a serious gram-negative infection calls for it; it is among the safer injectable antibiotics for a pregnant woman with pyelonephritis or sepsis. Small amounts reach breast milk and the infant may develop loose stools or thrush, but breastfeeding may continue.
Related Resources for Ceftazidime
Guides, articles, and tools related to Ceftazidime and other antibiotics medicines in Nigeria.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources
- •NAFDAC Greenbook — the official database of all products registered with Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control. Brand-level NAFDAC numbers for Ceftazidime on this page were cross-referenced against the Greenbook.
- •WHO Model List of Essential Medicines — Ceftazidime is included in the WHO's list of essential medicines, meaning it is considered essential for basic healthcare needs.
- •British National Formulary (BNF) dosing and interaction guidance for Ceftazidime.
- •Nigerian Standard Treatment Guidelines (Federal Ministry of Health).
Daily puzzle: Meddle — pair five brands with their medicines. New game at midnight.