Abstract
A 7- day short course of once daily 400 mg pefloxacin (PEF) was compared by a double blind dummy technique against a standard 14 days course of 50 mg chloramphenicol (CAP) /kg BW/day in four divided dosages for treatment of typhoid and paratyphoid fever. The purpose of the study was to evaluate objectively clinical and bacteriological efficacy. A total of 79 patients were enrolled. Only S.typhi and S. paratyphi positive cases were included in the final analysis. Both groups were comparable for duration of illness, sex, age, body weight and height. Microorganisms were all sensitive to both PEF and CAP. Treatment results were significantly better in the PEF group (N=20), fever cleared in an average of 3,8 days (SD ± 1,6). In the CAP group (N=21) it was 4,5 days (SD ± 1,5). In the CAP group one patient died and two other cases suffered from complications, rectal bleeding and toxaemia respectively. None was seen in the PEF group. There were also no secretory carriers or relapses seen in the PEF group while 2 cases became secretory carriers in the CAP group. A symptomatic newly acquired post treatment Salmonella spp. infections were noted in both groups (two in the PEF group and one in the CAP group). It may be concluded that in this limited but very objective study, a short 7-day once daily pefloxacin treatment course in our local population yielded superior results compared to standard chloramphenicol treatment.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 38-41 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Medical Journal of Indonesia |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 1994 |
Keywords
- Chloramphenicol
- Double blind study
- Pefloxacin
- Short course treatment
- Typhoid fever