A therapeutic trial of cefotaxime versus penicillin-gentamicin for severe infections in children.
A single-blind therapeutic trial, using randomly either cefotaxime or a benzyl-penicillin-gentamicin combination, was carried out in 68 hospitalised paediatric patients with 72 episodes of severe infection, which were, in the main, septicaemia, pneumonia, neonatal meningitis and a few other miscellaneous infections. The cefotaxime group showed a cure rate of 94.4% compared with 72.2% in the other group. One patient with bacterial meningitis treated initially with cefotaxime died a month later; however, penicillin and chloramphenicol had been added due to clinical deterioration. In the penicillin-gentamicin group there were five deaths, all from suspected neonatal septicaemia, and three cases required a change in antibiotic regimen before a cure could be effected. The results indicate that cefotaxime should be considered a drug of choice in many neonates with life-threatening sepsis.
D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002439:Cefotaxime / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005260:Female; D005839:Gentamicins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010400:Penicillin G / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D004338:Drug Combinations; D005839:Gentamicins; D002439:Cefotaxime; D010400:Penicillin G