Efficacy and tolerability of erythromycin acistrate and erythromycin stearate in acute skin infections of patients with atopic eczema.

The efficacy and tolerability of a new erythromycin derivative, erythromycin acistrate (EA), were compared with that of erythromycin stearate (ES) in 42 patients with infected atopic eczema. The dosage of EA was 400 mg tid and that of ES 500 mg tid. The duration of treatment ranged from five to 12 days. The patients were hospitalized and evaluated before treatment and on the last day in hospital. The infective pathogen was usually Staphylococcus aureus in both groups. Without local antibacterial treatment both drugs eradicated the bacteria in more than 60% of the cases. Gastrointestinal side effects were frequently reported with both drugs, more often in the ES- than in the EA-group, but the difference was only statistically significant (p less than 0.05) with respect to diarrhoea. One patient in each group discontinued treatment because of gastrointestinal side effects. No elevations in liver enzymes of clinical significance were reported in either group.