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USE OF COMBINATIONS OF TRIMETHOPRIM AND SULPHAMETHOXAZOLE IN THE TREATMENT OF CHEST INFECTIONS
Author(s) -
HUGHES D. T. D.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1973.tb111191.x
Subject(s) - sputum , medicine , streptococcus pneumoniae , pneumonia , bronchiectasis , haemophilus influenzae , bronchitis , chronic bronchitis , sputum culture , lung abscess , penicillin , moraxella catarrhalis , ampicillin , klebsiella pneumoniae , chest radiograph , trimethoprim , antibiotics , microbiology and biotechnology , lung , tuberculosis , biology , pathology , biochemistry , escherichia coli , gene
During the past five years over 500 patients with chest infections treated with TMP/SMX combinations have been studied. Most of the patients had chronic bronchitis and were treated during acute exacerbations. The most common pathogenic organisms grown from the sputum were Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae. A single‐blind comparative trial with ampicillin in a dosage of 2 gm/day was undertaken, which showed that Septrin was more effective in reducing sputum volume and purulence, and in eradicating pathogens from the sputum. Two groups of patients with severe bronchitis received the combination for periods of between three and 30 months. The clinical effect was excellent, and effects on the blood count minimal. No strain of Haemophilus influenzas or Streptococcus pneumoniae emerged that was resistant to the combination. Other lung infections successfully treated included pneumonia (15 cases), lung abscess (three cases), and bronchiectasis (six cases). Pathogenic organisms eradicated from the sputum included penicillin‐resistant Staphylococci and Klebsiella. Trimethoprim is concentrated in the sputum, which may account for the efficacy of the combination in treating chest infections.