IN-VIVO CORRELATES FOR STREPTOCOCCUS-PNEUMONIAE PENICILLIN RESISTANCEIN ACUTE OTITIS-MEDIA

Eighty-four children suffering from acute otitis media caused by Strep tococcus pneumoniae mere treated prospectively with cefuroxime axetil suspension (30 mg/kg of body weight twice daily for 8 days). The high incidence of isolates with decreased susceptibilities to penicillin (4 2 of 84 isolates) allowed us to establish a relationship between clini cal success and the penicillin MICs for pneumococcal isolates. It was found that cefuroxime axetil is clinically effective in the treatment of acute otitis media caused by penicillin-susceptible and penicillin- intermediate strains of S. pneumoniae. The results indicate that the r isk of treatment failure with cefuroxime axetil was increased in child ren with otitis media caused by S. pneumoniae when the penicillin MIC were greater than or equal to 2 mg/liter.