title: Effectiveness of cefotaxime in gram-negative meningitis.
abstract: We treated 12 adult patients who had gram-negative bacillary meningitis with cefotaxime administered intravenously at a dose of 2 g every 4 hours. The etiological organisms included Haemophilus influenzae (3 cases), Serratia marcescens (3 cases), Klebsiella pneumoniae (3 cases), Escherichia coli (2 cases), and Enterobacter (1 case). The infection followed a neurosurgical procedure in 6 cases. The mean inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations of cefotaxime for the isolates ranged from 0.125 to 0.25 microgram/ml. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of cefotaxime ranged from 5.0 to 15.2 micrograms/ml, and the CSF bactericidal titers were 1:64 to 1:128. The CSF in all patients was sterilized within 96 hours. All 12 patients recovered, and there were no relapses.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002439:Cefotaxime / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004756:Enterobacteriaceae Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D007710:Klebsiella Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae; D008581:Meningitis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008583:Meningitis, Haemophilus / Q000188:drug therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D012706:Serratia marcescens
chemical_list: D002439:Cefotaxime