Y-M Chen1, F-R Hu, Y-C Hou. 1. Department of Ophthalmology, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To assess the efficacy of oral azithromycin in the treatment of chlamydial conjunctivitis. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study in patients with clinically suspected chlamydial conjunctivitis who underwent conjunctival swab sampling for Chlamydia direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) tests between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2006. Patients with positive DFA results were orally administered azithromycin once a week for 2 consecutive weeks. If DFA examinations still showed positive results after 4 weeks, additional azithromycin was orally administered once. The DFA tests were repeated 4 weeks later, and this was continued until the DFA tests showed negative results. RESULTS: Among the 67 suspected patients, 45 (67.2%) showed positive results from the DFA tests, of whom 42 received treatment. After the first 2 weeks, only 27 patients returned to the clinic and completed the treatment. The test results of 19 (70.4%) patients became negative after the treatment with two weekly doses of oral azithromycin. Among the remaining eight patients, four (14.8%) needed an additional dose of oral azithromycin, and the other four (14.8%) required two additional doses. All 27 patients tolerated the treatment well, with an adverse event of mild gastritis in only one patient. CONCLUSIONS: Two weekly doses of oral azithromycin were effective and well tolerated in the treatment of chlamydial conjunctivitis. However, more than one course of treatment was necessary in some patients.
PURPOSE: To assess the efficacy of oral azithromycin in the treatment of chlamydial conjunctivitis. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study in patients with clinically suspected chlamydial conjunctivitis who underwent conjunctival swab sampling for Chlamydia direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) tests between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2006. Patients with positive DFA results were orally administered azithromycin once a week for 2 consecutive weeks. If DFA examinations still showed positive results after 4 weeks, additional azithromycin was orally administered once. The DFA tests were repeated 4 weeks later, and this was continued until the DFA tests showed negative results. RESULTS: Among the 67 suspected patients, 45 (67.2%) showed positive results from the DFA tests, of whom 42 received treatment. After the first 2 weeks, only 27 patients returned to the clinic and completed the treatment. The test results of 19 (70.4%) patients became negative after the treatment with two weekly doses of oral azithromycin. Among the remaining eight patients, four (14.8%) needed an additional dose of oral azithromycin, and the other four (14.8%) required two additional doses. All 27 patients tolerated the treatment well, with an adverse event of mild gastritis in only one patient. CONCLUSIONS: Two weekly doses of oral azithromycin were effective and well tolerated in the treatment of chlamydial conjunctivitis. However, more than one course of treatment was necessary in some patients.
Authors: Karim Mohamed-Noriega; Jibran Mohamed-Noriega; Manuel A Valdés-Navarro; Edgar Eliezar Cuervo-Lozano; Martín Cesar Fernández-Espinosa; Jesús Mohamed-Hamsho Journal: Int Ophthalmol Date: 2014-03-19 Impact factor: 2.031