Third-generation cephalosporins in the treatment of acute pneumococcal otitis media. An animal study.

There is concern that third-generation cephalosporins may not be effective in the treatment of acute otitis media due to Streptococcus pneumoniae. Using the chinchilla animal model, we compared two third-generation cephalosporins, cefixime (Suprax) and ceftibuten (investigational), with ampicillin and saline controls in an investigator-blinded, randomized trial. Whereas the saline controls performed worse than all other groups, no significant differences were detected among the three antibiotics regarding the time required to sterilize the middle ear cleft, or the prevalence of positive cultures after 10 days of therapy.