[Treatment of streptococcal tonsillo-pharyngitis in paediatric patients: short-course therapy with cefaclor].

Short-course treatments of streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis with oral cephalosporins and macrolides have resulted in a similar bacteriologic and clinical cure rate and in better compliance compared to the conventional 10-day course. Cefaclor has never been investigated for this purpose. 138 patients out of 420 recruited patients had a positive culture for S. pyogenes and were randomly assigned to receive cefaclor (25 mg/kg/bid) for a 5- (70 pts) or 10-day (68 pts) course. Patients were assessed clinically and bacteriologically 2-3 days after completing the course and followed up after 20-30 days. All 420 recruited patients belonged to a population of 2,800 children who had been previously screened for a streptococcal carrier state to exclude carriers from final evaluation. Clinical cure and bacteriological eradication was recorded in 92.8% and 92.6% of patients in groups A and B respectively. Therefore, short-course therapy with cefaclor may offer an effective alternative treatment to conventional regimens, with potential for better compliance.