Scandinavian journal of infectious diseases
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Scand. J. Infect. Dis. · Jan 1986
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialTrimethoprim and co-trimoxazole: a comparison of their use in respiratory tract infections.
A single blind prospective study was undertaken with 74 patients suffering from acute bronchitis, taken from general practice and one geriatric ward. Half were randomly allocated to treatment with 200 mg trimethoprim twice a day and the other half with 160 mg trimethoprim plus 800 mg sulphamethoxazole twice a day; both therapies were used for 7 days. We found little difference in the clinical or bacteriological responses to the different regimens although the higher concentration of trimethoprim in the single therapy gave a slightly more successful eradication of Haemophilus spp. Resistant bacteria appeared during and after therapy in a few cases but this was a greater problem with the sulphamethoxazole-containing preparation.
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Scand. J. Infect. Dis. · Jan 1986
Are white blood cell count, platelet count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein useful in the diagnosis of septicaemia and endocarditis?
In 851 predominantly adult patients with septicaemia or endocarditis data regarding white blood cell (WBC) count, platelet count, ESR and C-reactive protein (CRP) obtained within 3 days of admission were analyzed retrospectively. Among 232 patients with complete laboratory data none had the combination of normal ESR, negative CRP and lack of both leukocytosis and thrombocytopenia. CRP was positive (greater than 10 mg/l) in 93%, ESR was elevated (greater than 20 mm/h) in 90%, leukocytosis (WBC greater than 9 X 10(9)/l) was present in 60% and thrombocytopenia (platelets less than 150 X 10(9)/l) in 35% of the patients. Patients with pneumococcal infection had generally higher ESR and CRP values and WBC counts than patients with other infections.
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Scand. J. Infect. Dis. · Jan 1984
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialA randomised comparison of single-dose vs. three-day and ten-day therapy with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for acute cystitis in women.
The efficacy of a single-dose (4 tablets) trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) was compared with that of a 3-day and 10-day treatment with TMP-SMX, 2 tablets twice daily, in 464 female out-patients with symptoms denoting acute, uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI). 321 patients (70%) had significant bacteriuria. Treatment effect could be assessed in 279 women. ⋯ The incidence of adverse reactions was significantly greater in patients treated with a 10-day (28%) than in those treated with a single-dose (5%), or 3-day (9%) regimen (p less than 0.01). This study suggests that short treatment regimens for uncomplicated UTI in women are as effective as and cause fewer side-effects than the conventional 10-day chemotherapy.
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Over a 4-yr period (1978-1982) about 1 000 cases of campylobacter infection were diagnosed at our laboratory in Helsinki, but only 4 proved to be due to Campylobacter fetus. All these 4 patients had fever, 3 had diarrhoea and 1 arthritis and thrombophlebitis. The diagnosis was made from blood cultures in all cases; in 1 case the bacterium was also isolated from stools.
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Scand. J. Infect. Dis. · Jan 1982
Comparative StudyCerebrospinal fluid lactate in the diagnosis of meningitis. Diagnostic value compared to standard biochemical methods.
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lactate was determined in 245 patients by means of a rapid enzymatic method (Monotest Lactate). The mean value was 1.61 mmol/l (range 0.79-3.33) in 104 control patients, 2.06 mmol/l (range 0.76-4.31) in 121 patients with aseptic meningitis, and 8.18 mmol/l (range 1.77-19.21) in 20 patients with bacterial meningitis. In most of the patients CSF protein and the CSF/blood glucose quotient were also determined. ⋯ In 2 patients with bacterial meningitis all tests failed. CSF lactate may be used as a supplementary aid in the diagnosis of meningitis. Its diagnostic efficacy was equal to but not better than that of the traditional methods.