COMPARISON OF OFLOXACIN AND CEFTRIAXONE FOR SHORT-COURSE TREATMENT OFENTERIC FEVER

An open, randomized comparison of ofloxacin (200 mg, every 12 h) given orally for 5 days and ceftriaxone (3 g, once daily) given intravenous ly for 3 days in the treatment of uncomplicated enteric fever was cond ucted in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Salmonella paratyphi type A was is olated from six patients. Salmonella typhi was isolated from 41 patien ts; 63% of these isolates were resistant to multiple antibiotics: ampi cillin, chloramphenicol, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and tetracycl ine. Of the culture-confirmed cases, treatment with ofloxacin resulted in complete cure of all 22 patients, whereas 18 of 25 patients treate d with ceftriaxone were completely cured (P < 0.01). In the ceftriaxon e group, there were six acute treatment failures and one relapse. Mean +/- standard deviation fever clearance times were 81 +/- 25 h for ofl oxacin and 196 +/- 87 h for ceftriaxone (P < 0.0001). Short-course tre atment with oral ofloxacin (5 days) is significantly better than that with ceftriaxone (3 days) and will be of particular benefit in areas w here multiresistant strains of S. typhi are encountered.