Cefadroxil monohydrate versus erythromycin in paediatric patients.

Cefadroxil monohydrate, an oral cephalosporin with a long half-life, was compared to erythromycin estolate for efficacy in treating upper respiratory tract infections in children. The study was carried out on forty patients, twenty receiving cefadroxil and twenty receiving erythromycin. Each drug was dosed at 50 mg/kg/day and was given every 12 hours in two equally divided doses. The complete cure rate was 95% for the cefadroxil group and 80% for the erythromycin group. Two patients originally in the erythromycin test group showed no improvement either bacteriologically or clinically after 3 days of treatment. It was found that these patients harboured S. aureus which had become resistant to erythromycin during the course of therapy. Both patients were shifted to cefadroxil treatment and achieved complete cures. Two patients in the erythromycin group and one in the cefadroxil group were diagnosed as having scarlet fever. All three responded clinically, yet cultures from the two treated with erythromycin showed persistence of bacteria while the one treated with cefadroxil proved to be cured both clinically and bacteriologically.