F. Higuera et al., COMPARISON OF ORAL CEFUROXIME AXETIL AND ORAL AMOXYCILLIN CLAVULANATEIN THE TREATMENT OF COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA/, Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy, 37(3), 1996, pp. 555-564
Cefuroxime axetil has been evaluated previously in the treatment of lo
wer respiratory tract infections, but not specifically in the treatmen
t of community-acquired pneumonia. In a multicentre, investigator-blin
ded clinical trial, 162 patients with community-acquired pneumonia wer
e randomly assigned to receive orally either cefuroxime axetil 500 mg
bid (n = 84) or amoxycillin/clavulanate 500 mg/125 mg tid (n = 78) for
10 days. Organisms were isolated from the pretreatment sputum specime
ns of 97 of 162 (60%) patients, the commonest isolates being Streptoco
ccus pneumoniae (38%) and Haemophilus influenzae (18%). A satisfactory
clinical outcome (cure or improvement) was achieved in 100% (55 of 55
) and 96% (49 of 51) of the clinically evaluable patients treated with
cefuroxime axetil or amoxycillin/clavulanate, respectively (P = 0.23)
. With respect to eradication of bacterial pathogens, a satisfactory o
utcome (cure, presumed cure or cure with colonization) was obtained in
94% (32 of 34) and 93% (37 of 40) of bacteriologically evaluable pati
ents treated with cefuroxime axetil or amoxycillin/clavulanate, respec
tively (P = 1.00). Both treatment regimens used in this study were wel
l tolerated. The most common drug-related adverse experiences were gas
trointestinal events, reported by 8% and 4%, respectively, of the pati
ents in the amoxycillin/clavulanate and cefuroxime axetil groups, a di
fference which was not statistically significant (P = 0.32). These res
ults indicate that cefuroxime axetil twice a day is as effective as am
oxycillin/clavulanate three times a day in the treatment of outpatient
s with mild to moderate community-acquired pneumonia.