title: Comparison of the effectiveness of five different antibiotic regimens on infection with Rickettsia typhi: therapeutic data from 87 cases.
abstract: This study estimated the clinical effectiveness of five different antibiotic regimens (doxycycline, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline plus chloramphenicol, and doxycycline plus ciprofloxacin) administered for infection with Rickettsia typhi in terms of the duration of the fever. Eighty-seven patients with endemic typhus were hospitalized between 1993 and 1998 at the General Hospital of Chania in Chania, Crete, Greece. The mean time to defervescence was 2.9 days for doxycycline, 4.0 days for chloramphenicol, and 4.2 days for ciprofloxacin. In patients receiving combinations of doxycycline plus chloramphenicol and doxycycline plus ciprofloxacin, fever subsided in 3.4 and 4.0 days, respectively. The outcome was favorable in all patients, and no deaths or relapses were observed within two months.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Bacteriology, Parasitology Zoonoses, and Geographic Medicine, University Hospital of Heraklion, Heraklion, Crete, Greece. gikas@med.uoc.gr
authors.forename: Achilleas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gikas
authors.forename: Stephanos
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doukakis
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pediaditis
authors.forename: Serafim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kastanakis
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Manios
authors.forename: Yiannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tselentis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors; D014437:Typhus, Endemic Flea-Borne / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents