The efficacy of moxifloxacin in acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis:A spanish physician and patient experience

Chronic bronchitis is a debilitating disease affecting many millions of pat ients globally. They suffer multiple acute exacerbations each year, often r equiring many courses of antimicrobials to enable them to return to normal. The impact of the condition on both the individual patient and society as a whole is considerable and growing; thus antimicrobial therapy should indu ce rapid and effective outcomes as soon as possible. This open, community-b ased study of 5737 patients enrolled by over 2000 primary care physicians f rom across Spain examined the clinical effect of oral moxifloxacin on patie nts' signs and symptoms of acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis (AECB) over a 45-day period. The symptoms were assessed using daily diary cards i n addition to physician evaluations. Clinical assessment at day 7 showed 93 .0% of patients were cured. The patient diary card showed that two-thirds o f patients felt better by day 3 or 4. Adverse events were reported in 3.5% of patients in this study, the most common being diarrhoea, nausea and dizz iness, and epigastric pain. These reactions were mild to moderate in intens ity. There were no patient deaths due to infection during the study. Physic ians and patients reported that once-daily moxifloxacin gave fast relief of symptoms of acute excerbations of chronic bronchitis.