5-DAY CEFIXIME THERAPY FOR BACTERIAL PHARYNGITIS AND OR TONSILLITIS -COMPARISON WITH 10-DAY PENICILLIN-V THERAPY/

In an open, controlled, randomized multicenter study, 160 children suf fering from pharyngitis and/or tonsillitis were treated with either 8 mg cefixime/kg body weight once daily for 5 days or 20,000 I.U. penici llin V/kg body weight t.i.d. for 10 days. One hundred fifty-one childr en were evaluable for clinical efficacy, In the cefixime group, 65 (86 .7%) children were cured, seven (9.3%) were significantly improved, on e (1.3%) relapsed and in two (2.7%) therapy failed, Of the patients tr eated with penicillin V, 69 (90.8%) were cured, five (6.6%) improved, one (1.3%) relapsed and in one (1.3%) therapy failed. Elimination of i nitial pathogens occurred in 57 (82.6%) patients treated with cefixime and in 60 (88.2%) treated with penicillin V. At 3 to 4 weeks after th e end of treatment, six relapses were seen in the cefixime group and e ight in the penicillin V group. Mild-to-moderate adverse events that w ere possibly related to the medication were seen in four children trea ted with cefixime and in five treated with penicillin V.