Bacteriological and clinical studies on meropenem in the pediatric field

Bacteriological and clinical studies have been performed on meropenem (MEPM, SM-7338), a newly developed carbapenem antibiotic, in the pediatric field. 1. Antibacterial activities of MEPM against 24 clinical isolates were determined. MEPM showed excellent activity against Gram-positive bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative bacteria, especially Escherichia coli and Branhamella catarrhalis. Against Haemophilus influenzae, MEPM had a higher activity than imipenem and flomoxef, but had a lower activity than piperacillin and cefoperazone. 2. Clinical efficacies of MEPM were evaluated in 32 cases with bacterial infections. A poor efficacy was observed in 1 patient with phlegmon but excellent or good efficacies were obtained in other 31 patients with tonsillitis (1), pneumonia (17), UTI (12), or SSSS (1). The overall efficacy rate was 96.9%. All strains except 1 of S. aureus were eradicated by the administration of MEPM, and a high eradication rate of 95.8% (23 out of 24 strains) was obtained. 3. No side effects were obsereved in 35 evaluated cases. As abnormal laboratory test results, elevated GOT, elevated GPT, eosinophilia and neutropenia were noted in 4, 4, 4 and 2 patients, respectively. 4. Influences on blood coagulation parameters were studied. PIVKA II was elevated upon administration of MEPM in some cases, but no changes in ATT, TT, HPT or Fbg were observed during the treatment. Based on the above results, it has been concluded that MEPM is a safe and effective drug to use in the treatment of pediatric infections. The usual recommended dosage and administration should be 10 to 20mg/kg of MEPM at a time, using intravenous drip infusion, 3 times a day.