title: Spiramycin vs. placebo for treatment of acute diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium.
abstract: The efficacy of spiramycin was evaluated in a double blind, placebo-controlled study of 44 immunocompetent infants ages 2 to 13 months who had acute diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium. Twenty-one patients received spiramycin (100 mg/kg/day) for 10 days and 23 received placebo. On admission the patients in both groups were comparable regarding demographic and clinical characteristics. The infants who were treated with spiramycin had a shorter duration of diarrhea (mean, 5.2 vs. 7.3 days; P = 0.002) and a shorter duration of excretion of oocysts in the stools (7.1 vs. 8.5 days; P = 0.032) compared with those treated with placebo. No clinical or parasitologic relapses were seen in patients of both groups. Mild adverse effects to spiramycin were observed in 2 patients (10%). Spiramycin appeared to hasten clinical recovery and decrease the duration of oocyst excretion in immunocompetent children with diarrheal illness caused by Cryptosporidium.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Nacional de Niños, San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sáez-Llorens
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Odio
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Umaña
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Morales
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000187:drug effects; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007933:Leucomycins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation
chemical_list: D007933:Leucomycins