Efficacy and safety of azithromycin for uncomplicated typhoid fever: an open label non-comparative study.

An open-labelled, non-comparative study was conducted in 117 children aged 2-12 years to evaluate the efficacy and safety of azithromycin (20mg/ kg/day for 6 days) for the treatment of uncomplicated typhoid fever. Of the patients enrolled based on a clinical definition of typhoid fever, 109 (93.1%) completed the study.Mean (SD) of duration of fever at presentation was 9.1(4.5) days. Clinical cure was seen in 102 (93.5%) subjects, while 7 were withdrawn from the study because of clinical deterioration. Mean day of response was 3.45±1.97. BACTEC blood culture was positive for Salmonella typhi in 17/109 (15.5%) and all achieved bacteriological cure. No serious adverse event was observed. Global well being assessed by the investigator and subjects was good in 95% cases which was done at the end of the treatment. Azithromycin was found to be safe and efficacious for the management of uncomplicated typhoid fever.