AZITHROMYCIN VERSUS CEFACLOR IN THE TREATMENT OF PEDIATRIC-PATIENTS WITH ACUTE GROUP-A BETA-HEMOLYTIC STREPTOCOCCAL TONSILLOPHARYNGITIS

An open? comparative multicenter study was performed to evaluate the e fficacy and safety of azithromycin (10 mg/kg) given once daily for thr ee days in comparison with cefaclor (30 mg/kg) divided into three dail y doses and given for a period of ten days. One hundred and twenty-two children aged 1-12 years with clinical symptoms of group A beta-hemol ytic streptococcal tonsillopharyngitis and a positive throat culture w ere randomly allocated to the treatment groups. Overall, the clinical success (cure or improvement) of both regimens was identical in the ev aluable patients (86.3%, 44 of 51 patients in either treatment group). In contrast, bacterial eradication after completion of treatment was lower with azithromycin than with cefaclor. Possible reasons for this discrepancy between clinical success and eradication rates could be an tibiotic resistance, pre-disease carriage or insufficient dosage. Both agents were well tolerated; only mild or moderate side effects most f requently involving the gastrointestinal tract, were recorded in eithe r therapy group.