| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Telithromycin (a new ketolide) has shown good <it>in vitro </it>activity against the key causative pathogens of CAP, including <it>S pneumoniae </it>resistant to penicillin and/or macrolides.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The efficacy and safety of telithromycin 800 mg orally once daily for 7 days in the treatment of CAP were assessed in an open-label, multicenter study of 442 adults.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 149 microbiologically evaluable patients, 57 (9 bacteremic) had <it>Streptococcus pneumoniae</it>. Of the 57 <it>S pneumoniae </it>pathogens isolated in these patients, 9 (2 bacteremic) were penicillin- or erythromycin-resistant; all 57 were susceptible to telithromycin and were eradicated. Other pathogens and their eradication rates were: <it>Haemophilus influenzae </it>(96%), <it>Moraxella catarrhalis </it>(100%), <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>(80%), and <it>Legionella </it>spp. (100%). The overall bacteriologic eradication rate was 91.9%. Of the 357 clinically evaluable patients, clinical cure was achieved in 332 (93%). In the 430 patients evaluable for safety, the most common drug-related adverse events were diarrhea (8.1%) and nausea (5.8%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Telithromycin 800 mg once daily for 7 days is an effective and well-tolerated oral monotherapy and offers a new treatment option for CAP patients, including those with resistant <it>S pneumoniae</it>.</p>
|
|---|
