Ciprofloxacin versus chloramphenicol in the treatment of salmonella infection

Abstract

Strains of Salmonella typhi resistant to chloramphenicol and ampicillin have been isolated in several countries. This study compares treatment of Salmonella infection using ciprofloxacin (500 mg twice daily) for 10 days with chloramphenicol (50 mg/kg per day divided into four doses) for 14 days. The pathogen eradication rates for patients receiving ciprofloxacin was 18/20 (90%), compared with 25/28 (89%) for those who received chloramphenicol. Signs and symptoms in patients receiving chloramphenicol lasted longer and sometimes twice as long as patients treated with ciprofloxacin. In this study, ciprofloxacin was superior to cloramphenicol in the treatment of S. typhi infection and also had fewer side-effects and the convenience of a twice-a-day dosing