Short-course therapy with cefaclor for treatment of streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis.

Author(s): Esposito S, Noviello S, Ianniello F, D'Errico G

Affiliation(s): Clinic of Infectious Disease, Seconda Universita degli Studi di Napoli, Ospedale Gesu e Maria, Via D. Cotugno, 1, 80135 Naples, Italy. silvanoesposito@liberi.it

Publication date & source: 2001-10, Int J Antimicrob Agents., 18(4):341-5.

Publication type: Clinical Trial; Randomized Controlled Trial

Short-course treatments for streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis with oral cephalosporins or macrolides have resulted in a similar bacteriological and clinical cure rate and better compliance compared with the conventional 10-day course. One hundred and thirty eight of 420 recruited patients had a positive culture for Streptococcus pyogenes and were randomly assigned to receive cefaclor (25 mg/kg/bid) for a 5-day (70 patients) or 10-day (68 patients) course. Patients were assessed clinically and bacteriologically 2-3 days after completing the course and followed up after 20-30 days. All 420 recruited patients belonged to a population of 2800 children who had been previously screened for a streptococcal carrier state to exclude carriers from final evaluation. Clinical cure and bacterial eradication was recorded in 92.8 and 92.6% of patients in groups A and B, respectively. Therefore, short-course therapy with cefaclor may offer an effective alternative treatment to conventional regimens, with potential for better compliance.