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Updated in 10/8/2022 12:08:01 AM      Viewed: 76 times      (Journal Article)
Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 37 (9): 1165-71 (2003)

Azithromycin found to be comparable to levofloxacin for the treatment of US travelers with acute diarrhea acquired in Mexico.

Javier A Adachi , Charles D Ericsson , Zhi-Dong Jiang , Margaret W DuPont , Francisco Martinez-Sandoval , Charles Knirsch , Herbert L DuPont
ABSTRACT
Increased drug resistance among enteropathogens is an emergent problem in travelers' diarrhea. This randomized, double-blind trial was conducted in Guadalajara, Mexico, during the summers of 1999-2001 to compare azithromycin with levofloxacin for the treatment of travelers' diarrhea. A total of 217 US adults were randomized to receive a single oral dose of azithromycin (1000 mg; 108 persons) or levofloxacin (500 mg; 109 persons), with a follow-up period of 4 days. Three patients in each group dropped out of the study. The median time between initiation of therapy and passage of the last unformed stool (azithromycin group, 22.3 h; levofloxacin group, 21.5 h) and the number of unformed stools passed during the 4-day follow-up period (azithromycin group, 6.5; levofloxacin group, 5.5) were similar. Treatment failure occurred in 10 patients (9.5%) receiving azithromycin and 8 patients (7.5%) receiving levofloxacin. Possible minor, self-limiting adverse events occurred in 57 patients in each treatment group. Azithromycin was found to be a safe and effective alternative to levofloxacin for the treatment of acute travelers' diarrhea in US adult travelers to Mexico.
DOI: 10.1086/378746      ISSN: 1058-4838