The use of oral temafloxacin compared with a parenteral cephalosporin in hospitalized patients with pneumonia

Abstract

In a European open, multicentre, prospective clinical trial, 100 hospitalized adult patients (61 males; 18-91 years old (mean age 62] with bacterial pneumonia, diagnosed clinically and radiographically, were randomized to receive either oral temafloxacin 600 mg twice daily (n = 49) or intravenous cefotaxime 2 g thrice daily (n = 51). Signs, symptoms and chest radiographs were assessed during, at the end of therapy and at follow-up eight to ten days after the last dose. Patients were treated for a maximum of ten days. Sputum was obtained for culture before, during and after therapy. The clinical cure rate for the temafloxacin treatment group was 90%, the bacteriological cure rate was 91% and the radiological response rate was 95%. The respective rates for the cefotaxime-treated group were 92%, 96% and 100%. There were no significant differences between the treatment groups for clinical or microbiological outcome, premature study discontinuation, or adverse events. Oral temafloxacin was clinically and bacteriologically equivalent to intravenous cefotaxime in the treatment of hospitalized adults with bacterial pneumonia.