Acute klebsiella epiglottitis: considerations for initial antibiotic coverage.

Acute epiglottis due to Klebsiella pneumoniae in an adult patient is described. The patient failed to respond to ampicillin and required cephalosporin therapy as well as surgical drainage. In view of increased resistance of Hemophilus influenzae to ampicillin and because of other possible etiologic agents such as Staphylococcus aureus and non-Hemophilus gram-negative rods, consideration should be given for the initial use of one of the recently introduced cephalosporins such as moxalactam or cefamandole in the treatment of adult epiglottitis.