CEFIXIME IN THE TREATMENT OF ENTERIC FEVER IN CHILDREN

Cefixime in a dose 20 mg/kg/day, orally, divided into two doses 12 h a part for a minimum of 12 days, was administered to 50 children with pr oven S. typhi septicaemia. Forty four of the patients were infected wi th strains of S. typhi resistant to multiple antibiotics including chl oramphenicol, ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. All patien ts responded rapidly to treatment and were cured clinically and bacter iologically. Fever subsided within a mean of 5.3 days (range 3 - 8 day s). Only two of the 50 patients treated relapsed during the 8 week fol low-up period. No serious adverse reactions attributable to the drug w ere observed. Cefixime proved to be an effective oral drug in this ope n treatment trial and was associated with minimal side effects. It may provide a therapeutic alternative to the treatment of Salmonella infe ction with organisms multi-resistant to the standard drug regimens. It s oral formulation may provide an efficient alternative to parenteral therapy in less severely ill patients who can tolerate oral feeding.