Pefloxacin in the antibacterial treatment of immunodepressed patients.
Pefloxacin 800 to 1200 mg daily was given for 3 to 20 days, orally or intravenously, to 84 immunocompromised patients. Five patients dropped out because of side effects and 2 for other causes. Treatment efficacy was evaluated in 77 patients, 43 men and 34 women, aged 18 to 80 years. Immunodepression resulted from malignancy in 46 patients, LAS/ARC or AIDS in 28, and from unknown causes in 3. Fifty-eight patients had documented infections (respiratory-tract infections 29, urinary-tract infections 13, septicemia 10, other 6) and 19 had a fever of unknown origin (FUO). Cure or significant improvement of symptoms was achieved in 81% of patients with documented infections and in 74% of patients with FUO. Side effects (mainly gastrointestinal disturbances and skin rash) occurred in 7 patients (8.2%), including dropouts. These results suggest that pefloxacin may be useful for the antibacterial treatment of immunodepressed patients.
Istituto di Clinica Medica e Malattie Cardiovascolari, Università di Palermo, Italy.
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Cajozzo
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Carbone
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Carotenuto
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Grana
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La Sala
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Mancuso
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Perricone
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Sgalambro
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Dammacco
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology; D015366:Pefloxacin / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D015366:Pefloxacin