CLINICAL EVALUATION OF AZTREONAM AGAINST PEDIATRIC PURULENT MENINGITIS

Abstract

A monotherapy of aztreonam (AZT) was applied to 9 male and 3 female pediatric patients of ages ranging from 2 months to 8 years and 11 months with serious purulent meningitis. The results are summarized as follows:
1. Daily dosages of 134 to 400mg/kg were given 3 to 4 times a day for 10 to 28 days.
2. The isolated pathogens were Neisseria meningitidis in 2 cases, Escherichia coil in 3 cases, Haemophilus influenzae in 6 cases, but the pathogen of the last case was unknown. In this case, the patient had myelomeningocele and suffered from recurrent purulent meningitis.
3. Clinical effect was “excellent” in 5 of 12 cases, “good” in 7 cases and efficacy rate was 100%. Microbiological tests were performed on 9 cases during the course of treatment and bacterial elimination rate was 100%. All the pathogens were eliminated in 72 hours.
4. One case of diarrhea was observed, but the diarrhea started before the administration. of AZT and was stopped after the AZT treatment. A slight elevation of GOT value was observed in 1 case but the value returned to the initial level promptly after the treatment was completed.
It is considered that AZT is highly useful for purulent meningitis caused by Gram-negative pathogens such as H. influenzae, E. coli and N. meningitidis.