title: Evaluation of safety and efficacy of azithromycin in lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI)
abstract: Azithromycin was given to 55 cases of lower respiratory tract infections in the doses of 500 mg on day 1, followed by 250 mg on days 2-5. It produced bacteriological cure in 70.8% patients and clinical cure or improvement in 69.09% of patients. 4.27% of patients had throat colonisation with new organisms, of which 9.09% needed a second antibiotic. The drug was well tolerated and minor side effects were noted. Gastrointestinal disturbances (16.36%) headache and giddiness (14.55%), rash (3.64%) were the noted side effects. Reduction of platelet count by 50% occurred in 12.29% of the cases compared to 0.2% reported earlier. But this thrombocytopenia was clinically not significant, as it did not cause any symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Adhikari
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Hegde
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhat
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chowta
authors.forename: K V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Ramesh
authors.forename: T V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Venkatadri
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Pai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017963:Azithromycin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D017963:Azithromycin