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ICAAC: Bacteria More Resistant to Newer Therapy Than to Older Penicillin CHICAGO, IL -- December 17, 2001 -- Bacterial resistance to popular antibiotics known as macrolides has now surpassed penicillin bacterial resistance rates across the country, according to a surveillance study presented today at the 41st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) called Prospective Resistant Organism Tracking and Epidemiology of the Ketolide Telithromycin (PROTEKT US). Macrolides are currently the most widely prescribed antibiotics for respiratory tract infections (RTIs) -- which include community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), acute bacterial exacerbations of chronic bronchitis (AECB) and acute bacterial sinusitis (ABS) -- and account for more than 45,000 deaths in the United States, each year according to the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA). "For decades, physicians have relied on macrolides as an alternative to penicillin in treating respiratory tract infections," said Charles Stratton, MD, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, in Nashville, Tennessee, and lead investigator of PROTEKT US. "The recent increase in resistance to widely-prescribed macrolides suggests an immediate need to explore new options for the treatment of these infections." The study demonstrates that the overall non-susceptibility rate of the macrolide erythromycin among Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates -- the bacteria strain most commonly associated with RTIs -- is almost 31 percent, while overall bacterial resistance to penicillin is approximately 26 percent. The prevalence of resistance varied considerably across the country. S. pneumoniae resistance to erythromycin ranged from 23 percent in the Northwest to as high as 41 percent in the Southeast. Nationwide, almost 21 percent of all pneumococcal isolates showed resistance to both penicillin and erythromycin. "This information is critical for physicians who are prescribing antibiotics and making treatment decisions throughout the country," said Dr. Stratton. "A surveillance study of this nature may help physicians prescribe an appropriate antibiotic." To date, the safety and tolerability of telithromycin has been examined in nine randomised, double-blind, comparator-controlled clinical trials. The most common adverse events reported included diarrhoea, nausea, dizziness and vomiting. The majority of adverse events were mild to moderate in intensity. In June 2001, Aventis received a letter of approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use of telithromycin for the following indications: community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), acute bacterial exacerbations of chronic bronchitis (AECB) and acute bacterial sinusitis (ABS). SOURCE: Aventis Pharmaceuticals E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version