The efficacy and safety of pefloxacin in the treatment of typhoid fever in Algeria.

The efficacy and safety of pefloxacin 400 mg twice daily for seven days in the treatment of typhoid fever was investigated in an open, non-comparative study involving 37 patients infected with Salmonella typhi. Between day 5 and the end of treatment, all patients showed clinical improvement. The clinical cure rate at the end of the treatment period was 89.2%. One month after the end of treatment, the final assessment showed a clinical cure rate of 94.6% with relapses occurring in only two patients. Both these patients belonged to the group with negative blood cultures but positive serodiagnostic tests. Bacteriological tests confirmed eradication of the pathogen in 94.6% of patients and the relapses in the two serologically positive patients. Temperature became normal in a mean of 5.14 days. Clinical adverse reactions were reported in 5.9% (3/51) of patients (vomiting in two, transient pruritic rash in one). The results of this study indicate that a seven-day course of pefloxacin 400 mg twice daily provides a suitable alternative in the treatment of typhoid fever.