2 OR 3 DAYS OF OFLOXACIN TREATMENT FOR UNCOMPLICATED MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT TYPHOID-FEVER IN CHILDREN

An open randomized comparison of 2 days (Ofx2) versus 3 days (Ofx3) of oral ofloxacin treatment (15 mg/kg/day) was conducted with Vietnamese children between 1 and 15 years of age with suspected typhoid fever, Of 108 children enrolled, 100 H ere blood culture positive for Samonel la typhi, and 86% of the isolates were multidrug resistant, There were no significant adverse effects, The therapeutic responses were simila r in both groups, with mean (+/- standard deviation) fever clearances of 107 +/- 60 h in the Ofx3 group and 100 +/- 61 h in the OU group (P > 0.2), There were six ''clinical'' failures in the Ofx2 group and two clinical failures in the Ofx3 group (P > 0.2), in which fever and sym ptoms persisted for more than 1 week after the start of treatment, but only one of these was culture positive (Ofx3), There was one suspecte d relapse, and one carrier was identified, Short courses of ofloxacin are simple, inexpensive, safe, and effective for the treatment of unco mplicated multidrug-resistant typhoid fever.