COMPARATIVE-EVALUATION OF CEFACLOR AND TRIMETHOPRIM-SULFAMETHOXAZOLE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF LOW URINARY-TRACT INFECTIONS IN WOMEN

Infections of the urinary tract are among the most commonly encountered of all bacterial infections in women, and they are experienced by at least 20% of all adult women. Differentiating upper from lower urinary infections is important since response to treatment and ultimate prognosis are dependent on the infection site. Low urinary tract infection is a clinical illness due to inflammation of the bladder or urethra as a result of bacterial infection with about 80% caused by Escherichia coli. A randomised, multicentric, national, comparative and blind controlled trial compared the effectiveness in lower urinaryt tract infections of two drug regimens containing cefaclor and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. We prospectively studied a group of women (median age 44.4, range 35-65 years) sufficient to reach 25 +/- 2 patients treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and another group of 25 +/- 2 correlative outpatients, with cefaclor. The risk for relapse achieved the 11.3%. Patients treated received 1 capsule every 12 hours in a 5-day course, each capsule containing 500 mg of cefaclor in one group, or 80 mg of trimethoprim and 400 mg of sulfamethoxazole in the other group. Analysis of the clinical results obtained with cefaclor in comparison with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, demonstrated that cefaclor has an adequate therapeutic action, and is an effective alternative for the management of lower urinary tract infections.