[Effects of cefixime and cefaclor on pharyngeal flora in children]

Influences of cefixime and cefaclor, oral antibiotics, were studied in 50 children (age range, 11 months to 13 years) with pharyngitis. Daily doses of cefixime were 6 to 10 mg/kg in 25 children and those of cefaclor were 40 to 50 mg/kg in 25 children. Pharyngeal swabs were taken before and after 3 to 7 days of the antibiotic treatment. Pathogenic organisms, such as Streptococcus pyogenes, Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae, were isolated in 14 children before and in 1 child after cefixime use. But these bacteria were isolated in 15 children before and in 9 children, and 3 strains of H. influenzae and 3 strains of S. pneumoniae were newly isolated after cefaclor use. An isolation rate of Gram-negative bacilli, such as Acinetobacter spp., were increased after use of cefixime. In both antibiotics, isolation rates of yeasts were slightly increased. An isolation rate of alpha-hemolytic streptococci was increased from 16% to 48% by cefixime treatment and from 24% to 52% by cefaclor treatment. The MIC50 of cefixime and cefaclor against alpha-hemolytic streptococci isolated after treatment was higher than that isolated before. Effects of cefixime and cefaclor was less extensive than that of ampicillin in previous reports.