Treatment of typhoid fever with azithromycin versus chloramphenicol in a randomized multicentre trial in India.

To compare the clinical and bacteriological efficacies of azithromycin and chloramphenicol for treatment of typhoid fever, 77 bacteriologically evaluable adults, with blood cultures positive for Salmonella typhi or Salmonella paratyphi A susceptible to their assigned drugs, were entered into a randomized open trial at four hospitals in India. Forty-two patients were randomized to receive azithromycin 500 mg p.o. od for 7 days and 35 to receive chloramphenicol 2-3 g p.o. od in four divided doses for 14 days. Thirty-seven patients (88%) in the azithromycin group responded with clinical cure or improvement within 8 days and 30 patients (86%) in the chloramphenicol group responded with cure or improvement. By day 14 after the start of treatment, all patients treated with azithromycin and all except two of the patients treated with chloramphenicol (94%) were cured or improved. Blood cultures repeated on day 8 after start of therapy showed eradication of organisms in 100% of patients in the azithromycin group and 94% of patients in the chloramphenicol group. By day 14 the eradication rate in the chloramphenicol group had increased to 97%. Stool cultures on days 21 and 35 after start of treatment showed no prolonged faecal carriage of Salmonella spp. in either group. These results indicate that azithromycin given once daily for 7 days was effective therapy for typhoid fever in a region endemic with chloramphenicol-resistant S. typhi infection and was equivalent in effectiveness to chloramphenicol given to patients with chloramphenicol-susceptible infections.

Prophylaxis with weekly versus daily fluconazole for fungal infections in patients with AIDS.

We compared the efficacy of a 400-mg once-weekly dosage versus a 200-mg daily dosage of fluconazole for the prevention of deep fungal infections in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial of 636 human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients to determine if a less intensive fluconazole regimen could prevent these serious but relatively infrequent complications of AIDS. In the intent-to-treat analysis, a deep fungal infection developed in 17 subjects (5.5%) randomly assigned to daily fluconazole treatment and in 24 (7.7%) given weekly fluconazole during 74 weeks of follow-up (risk difference, 2.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI], -1.7% to 6.1%). Thrush occurred twice as frequently in the weekly versus daily fluconazole recipients (hazard ratio, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.40-0.89), and in a subset of patients evaluated, fluconazole resistance was infrequent. Fluconazole administered once weekly is effective in reducing deep fungal infections in patients with AIDS, but this dosage is less effective than the 200-mg-daily dosage in preventing thrush.

Epidemiology of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in the United States: analysis of national mortality and AIDS surveillance data.

We analyzed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) mortality data from 1979 to 1987 and data on persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) reported to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Based on analyses of multiple-cause-of-death vital statistics, deaths related to PML have increased fourfold from 1.5/10,000,000 persons in 1979 to 6.1/10,000,000 persons in 1987. The increase in the PML annual death rate began in 1984, occurred primarily in men 20 to 49 years of age, and was greatest in states known to have a high incidence of AIDS. In 1987, 56% of death certificates that listed PML as a cause of death also listed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Analysis of AIDS case reports to the CDC from 1981 through June 1990 demonstrated that 0.72% of persons with AIDS were reported as having PML. Although most persons with AIDS who had PML were 20 to 49 years of age (84.6%), PML was reported more frequently among persons with AIDS greater than or equal to 50 years old than less than 50 years old. In addition, PML was reported more frequently among persons with AIDS who were exposed to HIV by blood transfusion than those in all other exposure categories. These data demonstrate that the increase in PML mortality from 1979 to 1987 was associated with the large increase in immunosuppressed persons with AIDS.

Age and human immunodeficiency virus infection in persons with hemophilia in California.

Thirteen hemophilia centers provide comprehensive care to approximately 90 percent of persons with hemophilia in California. For 1987, these centers reported patient human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody status, age group, level of clotting factor deficiency, and hemophilia type on 1,438 persons with hemophilia A and B; HIV serologic status was known for 860 persons (59.8 percent) of whom 537 (62.4 percent) were HIV-antibody-positive. The HIV positivity rate increased with age after taking into account hemophilia type, clotting factor level and treatment center type. The three-year cumulative incidence of reported AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) cases based on the number of HIV positive patients, was 11.6 percent. The cumulative incidence rate was 14.6 percent (54 of 370) for those patients over 20 years of age and 4.8 percent (8 of 167) for those under 21 years of age. Although a comparable distribution of the date of diagnoses of AIDS was seen by age group, there appeared to be a bimodal distribution in the rate of AIDS among the age groups, with the 6-12-year-olds and the 21 and older age groups showing higher incidence rates.

Necrotizing enterocolitis mortality in the United States, 1979-85.

The Multiple Cause of Death Mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics were analyzed to describe epidemiologic characteristics and trends in deaths related to necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) among infants in the United States from 1979 to 1985. The average annual mortality rate (multiple cause mortality) for NEC was 13.1 deaths per 100,000 live births. NEC annual mortality rates decreased significantly during the study period for White and Black infants, male and female infants, and infants in the Northeast, North Central, and South regions. Black infants were approximately three times more likely to die from NEC than White infants, and the NEC infant mortality rate was highest in the South.