Single-Dose Tetracycline Therapy for Shigellosis in Adults
- Larry K. Pickering, MD;
- Herbert L. DuPont, MD;
- Jorge Olarte, DSc
Abstract
Forty-two adults who had Shigella isolated from stool (26 symptomatic, 16 asymptomatic) received a single oral dose of tetracycline hydrochloride (2.5 g). Minimal inhibitory concentrations of the 42 isolates demonstrated that 41% were sensitive to tetracycline. Sixteen of 18 patients with diarrhea who had tetracycline-resistant Shigella and all eight patients with diarrhea who had tetracycline-sensitive Shigella were clinically well and had Shigella-negative stools 48 hours after therapy. Fifteen of 16 asymptomatic patients demonstrated clearing of Shigella from stool within 48 hours of therapy. Single-dose tetracycline therapy is effective in the treatment of Shigella regardless of clinical expression of illness or in vitro sensitive of the organism.
(JAMA 239:853-854, 1978)
Footnotes
-
Reprint requests to Program in Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, University of Texas Medical School, 6400 W Cullen St, Houston, TX 77030 (Dr Pickering).
