Patients with sinusitis benefit from treatment with a new type of antibiotic.

There is an ongoing need for new antibiotics, as people develop resistance to more established drugs. Telithromycin has recently been introduced for the treatment of pneumonia, bronchitis and acute sinusitis. It's one of a new class of antibiotics called the ketolides.

New studies show the effectiveness of telithromycin in the treatment of acute maxillary sinusitis. It was compared to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and cefuroxime, two widely used antibiotics. Response to telithromycin was 81 per cent, compared to around 77 per cent for the other antibiotics. In general, the new drug was well tolerated by the patients and produced a good response within about five days. Telithromycin will be a useful addition to the doctor's medicine chest when it comes to treating upper respiratory infections.

Source

Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 16th September