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| |  DG DISPATCH - ACAAI: Acute Bacterial Sinusitis Responds To Short Course Gemifloxacin Therapy By Jill Stein Special to DG News
SEATTLE, WA -- November 5, 2000 -- A five-day course of the quinolone, gemifloxacin, is as effective as a seven-day course for the treatment of acute bacterial sinusitis (ABS), investigators reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology. The results were drawn from a multi-center trial in which adults with ABS were randomized to receive oral gemifloxacin 320 mg once daily for five days plus placebo for two days or oral gemifloxacin 320 mg once daily for seven days. Participants in the trial were 18 years of age or older with ABS suitable for oral antibacterial therapy. All of them had respiratory signs or symptoms, including purulent, mucosal nasal discharge or purulence in the nasal cavity for seven to 28 days or severe symptoms of three to 28 days' duration. In all subjects, ABS was confirmed by X-ray within 72 hours of the start of the trial. The two treatment groups had similar baseline demographic and clinical characteristics. Clinical success was defined as sustained improvement or resolution of signs and symptoms at follow-up such that no further antibacterial treatment for ABS was indicated. A five-day course of gemifloxacin was highly effective in the treatment of ABS, reported Dr. Jack Anon, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At follow-up, 18 to 25 days after the end of treatment, clinical success had been achieved in 87.3 percent of patients receiving gemifloxacin for five days and in 86.9 percent of those receiving treatment for seven days. Bacteriological response rates were comparable in the two groups among patients in whom bacteriological analyses were performed. Gemifloxacin treatment was well tolerated. Dr. Anon said that the results show that the five-day and seven-day regimens are equally effective for the treatment of ABS. The five-day regimen, however, is more convenient and may have better patient compliance than the seven-day treatment. While currently available quinolone antimicrobials have been shown to be effective in the treatment of ABS, producing bacteriological response rates of 90 percent or higher, treatment courses of ten to 14 days are usually required.
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