A clinical trial comparing oral azithromycin, cefixime and no antibiotics in the treatment of acute uncomplicated Salmonella enteritis in children

Objective: The objective of this study was to perform a prospective, 'rando mized, controlled study to evaluate the role of azithromycin and cefixime i n the treatment of uncomplicated non-typhoid Salmonella enteritis in childr en. Methodology: Patients with Salmonella enteritis were randomized to receive oral azithromycin (10 mg/kg/day once daily), cefixime (10 mg/kg/day divided twice daily) or no antibiotics for 5 days. The patients were followed up f or the duration of their symptoms. Stool samples were sent for culture week ly following the therapy until two consecutive negative results were obtain ed. Susceptibility of the isolates to antibiotics was tested by the disk di ffusion method. Results: Forty-two patients with acute, uncomplicated, culture-confirmed Sa lmonella enteritis were studied. Duration of diarrhoea and time to deferves cence after the therapy were not significantly different for patients treat ed with azithromycin, cefixime, or no antibiotics; there also were no signi ficant differences with respect to the rate of clearance of Salmonella from stools among the three groups. Salmonella typhimurium was the most common serotype isolated. All 42 isolates were sensitive to cefixime, while two st rains (5%) were resistant to azithromycin. Conclusions: Azithromycin or cefixime provides no benefit to paediatric pat ient with uncomplicated Salmonella enteritis.