Comparative trial of short-course ofloxacin for uncomplicated typhoid fever in Vietnamese children.
An open, randomised comparison of 2 or 3 days of oral ofloxacin (10 mg/kg/day) for uncomplicated typhoid fever was conducted in 235 Vietnamese children. Multi-drug-resistant Salmonella typhi was isolated from 182/202 (90%) children and 5/166 (3%) tested isolates were nalidixic acid-resistant (Na(R)). Eighty-nine of 116 children randomised to 2 days and 107/119 randomised to 3 days were blood culture-positive and eligible for analysis. There were 12 (13.5%) failures in the 2-day group (six clinical failures, four blood culture-positive post treatment, two relapses) compared with eight (7.5%) failures in the 3-day group (four clinical failures, one blood culture-positive post treatment, three relapses) (OR 1.9, 95% CI 0.7-5.5,p = 0.17). There were no significant differences in the mean (95% confidence interval) fever clearance times (h) [92 (82-102) vs 101 (93-110), p = 0.18] or duration of hospitalisation (d) [7.6 (7.2-8.1) vs 8.0 (7.6-8.4), p = 0.19] between the two groups. There was one failure in the four eligible children infected with an Na(R) isolate of S. typhi. No adverse events were attributable to the ofloxacin. These results extend previous observations on the efficacy of short courses of ofloxacin for children with uncomplicated multi-drug-resistant typhoid fever.
Vinh
Ha
H
Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Duong
Nguyen Minh
NM
Phuong
Le Thi
le T
Truong
Nguyen Thanh
NT
Bay
Phan Van Be
PV
Wain
John
J
Diep
To Song
TS
Ho
Vo Anh
VA
White
Nicholas J
NJ
Day
Nicholas P J
NP
Parry
Christopher M
CM
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D015242:Ofloxacin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012485:Salmonella typhi / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014435:Typhoid Fever / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D015242:Ofloxacin