title: [Erythromycin versus amoxicillin for the treatment of pneumonia in children (author's transl)].
abstract: Following a study in which the etiology of nearly 70% of 142 cases of pneumonia in children could be determined using a combination of bacteriological and serological methods, the effect of erythromycin ethylsuccinate was compared with that of amoxicillin in a randomized study on 120 cases of pneumonia. We first examined the tracheal secretion microbiologically and determined other serological parameters and clinical data. The tracheal secretion was sterile in only 19% of the cases. We were able to identify the etiology in 64% of the cases using a combination of microbiological and serological methods. A discontinuation of therapy and acceptable side-effects were considerably more frequent with amoxicillin than with erythromycin ethylsuccinate (75 mg/kg body weight). The advantages of erythromycin, especially for the initial therapy of pneumonia, and the improvements in diagnosis resulting from the examination of the tracheal secretion will be discussed.
mesh_terms: D000658:Amoxicillin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010403:Penicillin Resistance; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D011019:Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D004917:Erythromycin; D000658:Amoxicillin
vernacular_title: Erythromycin versus Amoxicillin bei kindlichen Pneumonien.