The combination of pivmecillinam and pivampicillin in the treatment of acute enteric fever

Abstract

Typhoid fever is an infectious disease with multi-system involvement commonly seen in the tropics. Twelve patients with acute typhoid fever have been treated successfully with a fixed dose combination of pivmecillinam and pivampicillin. There were no relapses, and stool cultures were negative for Salmonella typhi in the 8 patients who were available for follow-up. Five patients were infected with strains resistant in vitro to either ampicillin, chloramphenicol or both. All strains were sensitive to mecillinam and the combination of mecillinam/ampicillin, with MIC values for the combination in the range of 0·16–2·5 mg/l. No side effects were reported.