BMJ 1994;308:657-658 (5 March)

Letters

Fluoroquinolones in upper respiratory tract infections

EDITOR, - Roland J Korner and colleagues' article on the dangers of oral fluoroquinolone in community acquired upper respiratory tract infections raises interesting questions.1 In the first case reported, a single dose of any antimicrobial drug would have been unlikely to affect the course of the patient's illness, pneumococcal meningitis. Interestingly, the patient's treatment in hospital consisted initially of cefotaxime and metronidazole; only after the results of culture were obtained was this changed to intravenous penicillin. The second case report does not stipulate what dose or frequency of oral ofloxacin was prescribed. The underlying haematological malignancy was diagnosed only during the patient's admission. Again, many other agents considered to be first line drugs in upper respiratory tract infection might not have prevented the sequence of events that led to admission with septic shock. Indeed, despite the results of culture the patient was treated with penicillin in combination with netilmicin.

The . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Lesson of the Week: Dangers of oral fluoroquinolone treatment in community acquired upper respiratory tract infections
J R Korner, S D Reeves, and P A MacGowan
BMJ 1994 308: 191-192. [Extract] [Full Text]

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