TWICE-DAILY DOSING OF ERYTHROMYCIN ACISTRATE IN THE TREATMENT OF ACUTE BRONCHITIS AND PNEUMONIA

Erythromycin acistrate (Erasis(R), CAS 96128-89-1) is a 2'-acetyl ester prodrug of erythromycin. Due to prolonged half-life it is more suitable for twice daily dosing than the conventional erythromycin preparations. In the present double-blind trial, totally 297 ambulatory patients with respiratory tract infections were treated either with erythromycin acistrate 800 mg daily or doxycycline 100 mg daily. 243 of the included patients had bronchitis, 15 patients bronchitis and other respiratory tract symptoms, 25 patients pneumonia and 14 other respiratory tract infections. The duration of treatment varied from 7 to 14 days depending on the severity of infection. The efficacy of both treatments was very good 96.6 % of the patients treated with erythromycin acistrate and 97.2 % of the patients treated with doxycycline improved. The efficacy of erythromycin acistrate in the treatment of bronchitis and pneumonia was 96.7 and 100 %, respectively. Only 5 of the totally 148 patients failed. Side effects (mainly gastrointestinal symptoms) were seen in 12.1 % of the patients (20 patients in the erythromycin acistrate group and 16 patients in the doxycycline group). The results show that erythromycin acistrate dosed twice daily is as effective as doxycycline and well tolerated in the treatment of lower respiratory tract infections.