Infectious diarrhea in the aged: controlled clinical trial of rifaximin.
The effectiveness and tolerance of a new non-absorbable antibiotic, was evaluated on 121 aged patients affected with severe bacterial diarrhea. A double-blind design vs placebo was followed. The drug (three 200 mg tablets/die for 7 days) proved effective in reducing the number of daily discharges and the seriousness and duration of symptoms, as compared to placebo. Its antibacterial activity was furthermore confirmed by coprocultures: only 16/75 bacterial strains were still detectable after therapy, against 33/70 in the placebo group. Tolerance to rifaximin, both local and systemic, proved to be excellent.
Della Marchina
M
M
Div. Geriatria e Riabilitazione Funzionale, Ospedale Infermi, Rimini, Italy.
Renzi
G
G
Palazzini
E
E
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D012294:Rifamycins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000078262:Rifaximin
D012294:Rifamycins; D000078262:Rifaximin