title: Five vs ten days of penicillin V therapy for streptococcal pharyngitis.
abstract: To determine the effectiveness of a short (five-day) course of penicillin V potassium therapy, 172 patients with group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) pharyngitis were randomly assigned to receive 250 mg of penicillin V potassium three times daily for either five or ten days. The patients in the two treatment groups were comparable with respect to clinical findings, compliance, and serologic response to GABHS. A bacteriologic treatment failure was defined as the presence of the same serotype of GABHS in the follow-up as in the initial throat culture and occurred in 13 (18%) of the 73 patients in the five-day treatment group and in six (6%) of the 99 patients in the ten-day treatment group. These findings support the current recommendation for a full ten days of oral penicillin V therapy for the treatment of GABHS pharyngitis.
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010404:Penicillin V / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D011897:Random Allocation; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010404:Penicillin V