Meropenem Effective For Bacterial Meningitis

Zeneca's broad spectrum antibiotic Merrem (meropenem) appears to be a safe and effective treatment for bacterial meningitis, according to a study presented by Keith Klugman, department of medical microbiology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, at the Ninth Mediterranean Congress of Chemotherapy.

In a trial involving 190 children with bacterial meningitis, the drug was as effective as the third-generation cephalosporin, cefotaxime (Roussel's Claforan), which is the current treatment of choice for the disease, Dr Klugman told the conference.

At a dosage of 120mg/kg/day, meropenem eradicated all of the causative pathogens, which included Hemophilus influenza, Neisseria meningtidis and Streptococcus pneumonia. Cefotaxime at a dosage of 225mg-300mg/kg/day was as effective as meropenem but failed to eradicate Staphylococcus aureus in one patient, said Dr Klugman. There was one death in the meropenem group and two in the cefotaxime group.