Azithromycin versus ceftriaxone for the treatment of uncomplicated typhoidfever in children

A total of 108 children aged 4-17 years were randomized to receive 7 days o f azithromycin (10 mg/kg/day; maximum, 500 mg/day) or ceftriaxone (75 mg/kg /day; maximum, 2.5 g/day), to assess the efficacy of the agents for the tre atment of uncomplicated typhoid fever. Salmonella typhi was isolated from t he initial cultures of blood samples from 64 patients. A total of 31 (91%) of the 34 patients treated with azithromycin and 29 (97%) of the 30 patient s treated with ceftriaxone were cured (P >.05). All 64 isolates were suscep tible to azithromycin and ceftriaxone, Of the patients treated with ceftria xone, 4 subsequently had relapse of their infection. No serious side effect s occurred in any study subject. Oral azithromycin administered once daily appears to be effective for the treatment of uncomplicated typhoid fever in children. If these results are confirmed, the agent could be a convenient alternative far the treatment of typhoid fever, especially in individuals i n developing countries where medical resources are scarce.