Antibiotic therapy of cholera.

Abstract

Recent clinical trials having established the value of tetracycline as an adjunct to fluid and electrolyte replacement in cholera treatment, a controlled trial of antibiotic therapy was conducted in Dacca on 318 adults hospitalized for cholera. The effects of 4 antibiotics orally administered in varying dosage schedules were studied.Cholera therapy with tetracycline or chloramphenicol caused a highly significant reduction in the duration of diarrhoea and of positive culture, in stool volume, and in intravenous fluid requirement as compared with the results in controls who received intravenous fluid therapy only. Streptomycin was also effective, but to a lesser degree; paromomycin was of little value.The severity of dehydration on admission was significantly related to subsequent duration of diarrhoea regardless of whether antibiotics were given. Increasing age was associated with more prolonged purging in patients receiving antibiotics.Increasing the dose of tetracycline to 2 to 3 times that usually administered, or prolonging treatment from 2 to 4 days, did not enhance the therapeutic results. The effect of tetracycline was apparent within a few hours of administration. Bacteriological relapses were seen after discontinuation of therapy in all treatment groups, but were not due to the development of resistant bacteria.