Comparison of cefaclor and ampicillin in the treatment of shigellosis.

Fifty-four children with acute diarrhoea were treated orally with 50 mg/kg/day of either ampicillin in 4 divided doses, or with cefaclor in 3 divided doses for 5 days. Shigella was isolated from the stool of 28 patients, 6 of whom were hospitalized. All isolates, including ampicillin-resistant strains, were susceptible in vitro to cefaclor. For ampicillin-sensitive infections, the clinical response and clearing of Shigella from stools appeared to occur more rapidly in patients treated with ampicillin than in those treated with cefaclor. In areas where ampicillin resistance is a problem, cefaclor appears not to be a drug of choice for the treatment of Shigella.