[Effectiveness of cefotaxime in pediatric infectious diseases]

Cefotaxime (CTX) was administered to 117 pediatric patients. Although 26 of these patients were excluded from the clinical evaluation of the study because other antimicrobial agents were given concomitantly with CTX or because no infectious diseases were proved, these cases were evaluated for adverse effects of the drug. The remaining 91 cases were evaluated for clinical effect; pneumonia in 56 cases, septicemia in 5, suspected septicemia in 5, meningitis (aseptic cases included) in 3, urinary tract infection in 5 and other diseases in 17. No pathogenic organisms were identified in any of the pneumonia cases, even either by bacterial culture or other laboratory test methods. Pathogens of septicemia were E. coli in 3 cases, K. pneumoniae in 1 and E. agglomerans in 1. Those of urinary tract infections were E. coli in 3 cases, a mixed infection of S. aureus and an unidentified species of Gram-negative rods in 1, and unknown in 1. Clinical effectiveness rates of CTX were 78.6% in pneumonia and 100% in septicemia, suspected septicemia and urinary tract infections. One patient with purulent meningitis caused by H. influenzae was also treated with CTX successfully. Adverse reactions and abnormal laboratory findings were observed in 12 cases (12/117 = 10.3%); rash in 2 cases, vomiting in 1, abdominal pain in 1, diarrhea in 5, granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia in 1, eosinophilia in 3 and elevation of liver enzymes (GOT and LDH) in 1.