Spectrum and antimicrobial resistance of common pathogenic bacteria isolated from patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in mainland of China / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Bacteria-induced respiratory infection has been long considered to be the major cause of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). Therefore, a clear picture about the distribution and drug-resistance of pathogenic bacteria in the lower airways should be helpful for treatment of the disease. So far, data on this topic among Chinese are lacking.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A surveillance study was performed in consecutive patients with AECOPD at five areas in China between October 2006 and April 2008. The sputum from these patients was cultured and isolated for bacteria. Agar dilution method was used to determine the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of levofoxacin and other 15 antibiotics against these strains.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Three hundred and fifty-nine pathogenic bacterial strains were isolated among 884 patients with AECOPD. The predominant bacteria were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (21.7%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (12.3%), Haemophilus influenzae (14.2%) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (11.7%), followed by Haemophilus parainfluenzae (9.5%), Acinetobacter baumannii (7.8%), Moraxella catarrhalis (6.4%) and Escherichia coli (3.6%). The majority of bacterial pathogens isolated in this study were susceptible to fuoroquinolones, ceftazidime, cefepime and imipenem.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Gram-negative bacilli are the leading pathogens in patients with AECOPD in China. Haemophilus parainfluenzae may be one of the most important pathogens in AECOPD. This study provides evidence for local surveillance of AECOPD pathogens and appropriate choice of antimicrobials in China.</p>

Safety and tolerability of moxifloxacin in the treatment of respiratory tract infections: a post-marketing surveillance conducted in Indonesia.

Moxifloxacin 400 mg tablet has been marketed in Indonesia for several indications, i.e. acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis (AECB), community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), and acute bacterial sinusitis (ABS). To assess the safety and tolerability of moxifloxacin, a post-marketing surveillance study was conducted in the year 2001 involving 589 physicians. Clinical efficacy was also evaluated, both by physicians and patients, using a 6-symptom total score, which was scaled 0-12. A total of 1715 patients with acute sinusitis, CAP, AECB, and other infections were treated with oral moxifloxacin 400 mg once daily. There were 151 (8.8%) patients with adverse events (AEs) and 5 (0.29%) patients with serious adverse events (SAEs) that were considered related to moxifloxacin treatment. The most common adverse reactions were nausea (4.96%), dizziness (1.52%), vomiting (0.64%), headache (0.47%), and weakness (0.47%). Twenty three (1.34%) patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events. Tolerance to treatment was rated very good and good by 647 (37.7%) and 919 (53.6%) of patients, respectively. Based on physicians’ clinical assessment, 57.7% of patients were cured and 39.9% were improved at the end of treatment. Mean total symptom score, as assessed by the patients, decreased from 6.43 on day-1 to 2.76 on day-3. Totally, 95.3% of patients felt better after receiving moxifloxacin and 97.6% of patients had good impression on moxifloxacin treatment. In conclusion, treatment of respiratory tract infections, mainly AECB, CAP and ABS, with moxifloxacin 400 mg once daily in this post-marketing surveillance was shown to be safe and well tolerated. Moxifloxacin was also shown to be highly effective in the treatment of these infections with rapid improvement of symptoms.

Asthma prevalence among high school students in East Jakarta, 2001, based on ISAAC questionnaire.

The aim of this study was to assess asthma prevalence in children between 13-14 years of age in East Jakarta. This study is a cross sectional study which surveyed 2234 high school students between the ages of 13 and 14 years in East Jakarta in 2001 using the ISAAC questionnaire. Bronchial challenge test was applied by using methacholine substance to 186 students. Reports based on the ISAAC questionnaire indicate that 7.2% of teenage have had wheezing experience, 4.1% have wheezing within the last 12 months, 1.8% have ever suffered severe asthma attack within the last 12 months, 3.3% have suffered wheezing after exercise, and 6.3% have got night cough while they were not suffering from cold. Prevalence of atopy diseases such as rhinitis and eczema were 14.2% and 3.9%, meanwhile rhinitis and eczema prevalence within the last 12 months according to this study were 10.6% and 2.9% respectively. Statistically, there is a significant correlation between wheezing symptom and atopy (p < 0.05). From indepth questionnaire, a significant value of kappa 0.84 related with wheezing within the last 12 months was found. Bronchial challenge test results indicate that sensitivity was 90%, specificity 83.58%, positive predictive value 68.12% and negative predictive value was 95.73%. Asthma prevalence in East Jakarta at 2001 based on ISAAC questionnaire was 8.9%, and cumulative prevalence 11.5%. The ISAAC questionnaire can be used to study asthma prevalence in children at multicenter in Indonesia.