A Comparison of the Efficacy of Tetracycline and Penicillin in the Treatment of Pneumococcal Pneumonia

Abstract

TETRACYCLINE is a new broad-spectrum antibiotic derived from the catalytic dehydrogenation of chlortetracycline.^{1 , 2} Chemically, it is similar to its analogues chlortetracycline and oxytetracycline, the only difference being that chlortetracycline has an additional chloride radical and oxytetracycline an additional hydroxyl radical. Preliminary studies by Finland et al.³ have indicated that this antibiotic is effective in the treatment of pneumococcal pneumonia and other bacterial infections and that its toxicity is low. These encouraging results were considered to deserve extension and confirmation. This study of the comparative efficacy of tetracycline and penicillin in the treatment of alternate cases of pneumococcal pneumonia was therefore . . .