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Antibiotics for the treatment of dysentery in children

Beatrix S Traa1, Christa L Fischer Walker, Melinda Munos

  • 1Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.

International Journal of Epidemiology
|March 30, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, and pivmecillinam effectively treat childhood dysentery, achieving over 99% cure rates. These World Health Organization-recommended antibiotics reduce clinical and bacteriological symptoms, likely decreasing dysentery-related mortality.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, and pivmecillinam for childhood dysentery.
  • Recent reviews on the clinical effectiveness of these antibiotics are lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the clinical effectiveness of ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, and pivmecillinam for treating dysentery in children.
  • To determine the impact of these antibiotics on treatment failure, bacteriological failure, and relapse rates.

Main Methods:

  • A systematic literature review was conducted on studies involving ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, and pivmecillinam for childhood dysentery in developing countries.
  • Meta-analyses were performed to assess treatment outcomes, including clinical and bacteriological failure and relapse.
  • CHERG Standard Rules were applied to evaluate the effect on diarrhea mortality.

Main Results:

  • Eight studies were included in the review.
  • Treatment with ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, or pivmecillinam demonstrated a cure rate exceeding 99%.
  • These antibiotics were highly effective in resolving clinical and bacteriological signs of dysentery.

Conclusions:

  • The WHO-recommended antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, pivmecillinam) are effective for treating childhood dysentery.
  • These treatments significantly reduce clinical and bacteriological manifestations of dysentery.
  • The use of these antibiotics is expected to lower dysentery-associated diarrhea mortality.
Abstract

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