[Cefotaxime and Gram-negative infections in children. Effectiveness and tolerance (author's transl)].

Twenty-six children, aged from 15 days to 14 years, were treated with cefotaxime. 5 were suffering from septicaemia, 14 from respiratory tract infection and were ventilated (intensive care unit), 4 from urinary tract infection and 3 from otitis media complicated with renal failure (nephrology unit). The choice of cefotaxime treatment was based upon the bacterial activity. The daily dose was 50 to 100 mg/kg by the i.m. route, or by slow intravenous injection every 8 hours. In 17 patients, cefotaxime was combined with an aminoglycoside (gentamicin or amikacin). The results were evaluated on the basis of clinical, radiological and bacteriological criteria and, whenever possible, were correlated to the serum levels of antibiotic. The antibiotic was clinically effective in 25 out of 26 patients. The three deaths that occurred, were due to the nature of the initial disease. Tolerance was good in all the patients studied. The efficacy of cefotaxime correlated well with the favorable in vitro bacteriological results and with serum concentrations. Cefotaxime is well tolerated as shown in newborn babies. Cefotaxime is markedly different from previous cephalosporins, because of its high antibacterial activity on most Gram-negative bacilli.