Ciprofloxacin in the treatment of acute bacterial diarrhea: a double blind study

In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial 50 adult patients with acute diarrhea received either 500 mg ciprofloxacin b.i.d. or a placebo for five days. Results were evaluated in 21 patients in the ciprofloxacin group (10 with Salmonella spp., 11 with Campylobacter jejuni) and 25 patients in the placebo group (16 with Salmonella spp., 5 with Campylobacter jejuni, 4 with Shigella spp.). The duration of fever in patients treated with ciprofloxacin was 1.5 days versus 2.3 days in the placebo group; the difference was not statistically significant. The duration of diarrhea in the ciprofloxacin group was 1.4 days versus 2.6 days in the placebo group (p less than 0.01); the corresponding figures in patients with salmonellosis were 1.6 versus 3.2 (p = 0.01). In the ciprofloxacin group all stool cultures became negative 48 h after start of treatment and remained negative during the follow-up period of three weeks. In the placebo group only one of the 25 patients had negative stool cultures during therapy and only seven after the treatment period (p less than 0.001). Ciprofloxacin was very well tolerated and was found to be a safe compound without major adverse effects.