| Title | Microbiological efficacy of 3-day treatment with azithromycin 1.5% eye-drops for purulent bacterial conjunctivitis. | | Author(s) | Denis F, Chaumeil C, Goldschmidt P, Delval L, Pouliquen P, Cochereau I, Chainier D, De Barbeyrac B | | Institution | Service de Bactériologie-Virologie-Hygiène, CHU de Limoges, Limoges Cedex - France. francois.denis@unilim.fr | | Source | Eur J Ophthalmol 2008 Nov-Dec; 18(6):858-68. | | MeSH | Administration, Topical
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Azithromycin
Bacteria
Child
Child, Preschool
Conjunctiva
Conjunctivitis, Bacterial
Double-Blind Method
Drug Resistance, Bacterial
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Microbial Sensitivity Tests
Middle Aged
Ophthalmic Solutions
Time Factors
Tobramycin
Young Adult
| | Abstract | PURPOSE. Antibacterial efficacy of topically applied azithromycin 1.5% was compared with tobramycin 0.3% in a multicenter, randomized, investigator-masked study for the treatment of purulent bacterial conjunctivitis.
METHODS. A total of 1043 adults and children received either azithromycin twice daily for 3 days (n=524) or tobramycin every 2 hours while awake for 2 days, then four times daily for 5 days (n=519). Conjunctival swabbing was taken at days 0, 3, and 9, using alginate swabs resuspended in a dissolution-transport medium, providing rapid and reproducible results. Cagle's criteria were used to define the pathogenicity level for each isolated bacterium.
RESULTS. In the per-protocol set, the rate of bacteriologic resolution was 85.2% for azithromycin versus 83.8% for tobramycin on day 3, and 92.8% for azithromycin versus 94.6% for tobramycin on day 9. Azithromycin was demonstrated to be noninferior to tobramycin according to the 10% noninferiority margin. Although some bacteria were categorized as resistant to tested antibiotics, eradication was observed (for azithromycin: Acinetobacter, Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas), highlighting the specific pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of the ocular route.
CONCLUSIONS. In total, topical therapy with azithromycin 1.5% administered only twice daily for 3 days effectively eradicates most pathogenic bacteria associated with bacterial conjunctivitis. These microbiologic results are in accordance with the observed clinical outcome. This new anti-infective product has the advantage of a short treatment course which could lead to an improvement in patient compliance. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Comparative Study
Journal Article
Multicenter Study
Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
| | PubMed ID | 18988154 |
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