Treatment of skin and skin structure infections: a comparative study of Augmentin and cefaclor

Sixty-four patients were entered into a double-blind study of Augmentin and cefaclor. Pathogenic bacteria were recovered from twenty-one patients who received Augmentin and seventeen patients who received cefaclor. The primary diagnoses were pyodermas and impetigo, as well as cellulitis, folliculitis, infected skin structure, and infected surgical sites. Eighty-one percent of the Augmentin-treated patients were classified as successfully treated, based on clinical and bacteriologic criteria, as were eighty-nine percent of the patients treated with cefaclor. Side effects were minimal in both groups; no laboratory abnormalities were found. Both Augmentin and cefaclor are useful oral antimicrobial agents in the treatment of infections of the skin and skin structure.