"Discontinuous" antibiotic therapy for urinary tract infections.

Although it is a common belief that most antibiotics require 4 doses daily, on theoretical grounds such frequent administration may not be necessary (at least for bactericidal antibiotics) and can compromise patient compliance. In 548 patients with urinary tract infections studied under double-blind conditions, 1 g of cephradine orally twice daily provided results equivalent to those obtained with 500 mg of cephradine given 4 times a day. A total of 242 (89%) of 272 patients in the b.i.d. group and 246 (89%) of 276 patients in the q.i.d. group responded well and rapidly. The incidence of adverse reactions attributable to cephradine was equivalent in the two groups.