SULFAPYRIDINE AND SULFATHIAZOLE THERAPY IN PNEUMOCOCCIC PNEUMONIA

Abstract

In an attempt to evaluate the comparative therapeutic effectiveness and toxicity of sulfapyridine and sulfathiazole, pneumonia patients admitted to the medical services¹ at the Philadelphia General Hospital were divided into therapeutic groups so that approximately an equal number received sulfapyridine and sulfathiazole.² This report deals with the study of 400 adult patients, the first 200 consecutively typed pneumococcic pneumonia patients from each therapeutic group. Included in this group of 400 patients are 200 who formed the basis of a previous report.³ A representative group of patients (50 treated with sulfapyridine and 56 with sulfathiazole) was studied in somewhat greater detail by laboratory methods. Our purpose in this paper is to compare the behavior and activity of the two drugs when employed in the treatment of pneumonia. ROUTINE MANAGEMENT As soon as the clinical diagnosis of pneumonia was established and specimens for routine laboratory studies (blood, urine and