Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy logoLink to Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
. 1984 May;25(5):643–645. doi: 10.1128/aac.25.5.643

Comparative efficacies of pivmecillinam and ampicillin in acute shigellosis.

I Kabir, M M Rahaman, S M Ahmed, S Q Akhter, T Butler
PMCID: PMC185605  PMID: 6329092

Abstract

The clinical efficacies of pivmecillinam and ampicillin were compared in a randomized double-blind trial in the treatment of acute shigellosis. Of 44 adult male patients, all culture positive for Shigella strains, 22 patients received 400 mg of pivmecillinam and 22 patients received 500 mg of ampicillin every 6 h. Both drugs were administered orally for 5 days. Four patients receiving ampicillin were infected with Shigella strains that were resistant to ampicillin but susceptible to pivmecillinam, and two patients receiving pivmecillinam were infected with Shigella strains resistant to both ampicillin and pivmecillinam. The mean duration of diarrhea in all patients receiving pivmecillinam was 3.3 days compared with 4.5 days in patients receiving ampicillin (P less than 0.05). When patients infected with the resistant strains were excluded, the mean duration of diarrhea in patients receiving pivmecillinam was 3.2 days compared with 4.1 days in patients receiving ampicillin. The patients infected with strains susceptible to both antibiotics had mean durations of fecal excretion of Shigella strains of 1.2 days for those treated with pivmecillinam and 1.4 days for those treated with ampicillin. The patients infected with organisms resistant to both drugs had longer durations of diarrhea and fecal excretion of Shigella strains. The results suggest that pivmecillinam is as effective as ampicillin and can be a useful drug for the treatment of shigellosis.

Full text

PDF
643

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bauer A. W., Kirby W. M., Sherris J. C., Turck M. Antibiotic susceptibility testing by a standardized single disk method. Am J Clin Pathol. 1966 Apr;45(4):493–496. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Frost J. A., Rowe B., Vandepitte J., Threlfall E. J. Plasmid characterisation in the investigation of an epidemic caused by multiply resistant Shigella dysenteriae type 1 in Central Africa. Lancet. 1981 Nov 14;2(8255):1074–1076. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)91277-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Gilman R. H., Spira W., Rabbani H., Ahmed W., Islam A., Rahaman M. M. Single-dose ampicillin therapy for severe shigellosis in Bangladesh. J Infect Dis. 1981 Feb;143(2):164–169. doi: 10.1093/infdis/143.2.164. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Haltalin K. C., Nelson J. D., Ring R., 3rd, Sladoje M., Hinton L. V. Double-blind treatment study of shigellosis comparing ampicillin, sulfadiazine, and placebo. J Pediatr. 1967 Jun;70(6):970–981. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(67)80275-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hansson H. B., Walder M., Juhlin I. Susceptibility of shigellae to mecillinam, nalidixic acid, trimethoprim, and five other antimicrobial agents. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1981 Feb;19(2):271–273. doi: 10.1128/aac.19.2.271. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Lerman S. J., Waller J. M., Simms D. H. Resistance of shigellae to ampicillin and other antibiotics: South Bronx New York (1971 and 1972). J Pediatr. 1973 Sep;83(3):500–501. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(73)80286-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Rahaman M. M., Huo I., Dey C. R., Kibriya A. K., Curlin G. Letter: Ampicillin-resistant Shiga bacillus in Bangladesh. Lancet. 1974 Mar 9;1(7854):406–407. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)93171-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Roholt K. Pharmacokinetic studies with mecillinam and pivmecillinam. J Antimicrob Chemother. 1977 Jul;3 (Suppl B):71–81. doi: 10.1093/jac/3.suppl_b.71. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Ross S., Controni G., Khan W. Resistance of shigellae to ampicillin and other antibiotics. Its clinical and epidemiological implications. JAMA. 1972 Jul 3;221(1):45–47. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Spratt B. G. Comparison of the binding properties of two 6 beta-amidinopenicillanic acid derivatives that differ in their physiological effects on Escherichia coli. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1977 Jan;11(1):161–166. doi: 10.1128/aac.11.1.161. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Tong M. J., Martin D. G., Cunningham J. J., Gunning J. J. Clinical and bacteriological evaluation of antibiotic treatment in shigellosis. JAMA. 1970 Dec 7;214(10):1841–1844. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Weissman J. P., Gangarosa E. J., Dupont H. L. Changing needs in the antimicrobial therapy of shigellosis. J Infect Dis. 1973 May;127(5):611–613. doi: 10.1093/infdis/127.5.611. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES