[Cefotaxime in septicaemia and severe infections due to multiresistant Gram-negative bacilli (author's transl)].

Cefotaxime was given to 26 patients with serious infections resistant to other antibiotics. 15 patients were suffering from septicaemia due to Gram-negative bacilli, which were caused either by a single organism (13 cases:" of which Serratia in 6, Klebsiella in 3) or by several organisms (2 cases); 7 had upper urinary tract infections (caused by Serratia in 4 patients), and 6 had miscellaneous infections (two of these were purulent post-operative meningitis). The pathogens were usually resistant to ampicillin and cephalothin. Cefotaxime was administered at a daily dose of 3 g in 22 patients, irrespective of the renal function, and of 6 g in 4 patients (2 meningitis). Treatment included an aminoglycoside in 12 cases. The efficacy of cefotaxime was very satisfactory in 23 of the 26 patients.