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Original Research
Is Roxithromycin Better than Amoxicillin in the Treatment of Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Primary Care?
R. M. HOPSTAKEN, MD P. NELEMANS, MD, PHD E. E. STOBBERINGH, PHD J. W.M. MURIS, MD, PHD P. E.L.M. RINKENS G. J. DINANT, MD, PHD Maastricht, the Netherlands From the Departments of General Practice (R.M.H., J.W.M.M., P.E.L.M.R, G.J.D.), Epidemiology (P.N.), and Medical Microbiology (E.E.S.), Maastricht University, Research Institute for Extramural and Transmural Health Care, Maastricht, the Netherlands. The authors report no competing interests. All requests for reprints should be addressed to R.M. Hopstaken, Maastricht University, Department of General Practice, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. E-mail: rogier.hopstaken@hag.unimaas.nl.
General practitioners frequently diagnose LRTI in general or pneumonia and acute bronchitis in particular, including infectious episodes in patients with asthma or COPD. In many cases, treatment with antibiotics follows. The results of our randomized controlled trial did not confirm the potentially greater value of roxithromycin, which is often recommended as the drug of choice for empirical treatment of community-acquired pneumonia, over amoxicillin. Because amoxicillin was as effective as roxithromycin, it remains a reliable first-choice antibiotic in the treatment of community-acquired LRTI.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the patients, general practitioners, and physicians’ assistants who participated in this study. They also thank Hans Verloop, director of the Vandra paper factory, Meer-Hoogstraten, Belgium, for donating cardboard boxes and Alexander Thissen, Josephine Asberg, and Ramon Ottenheijm for their assistance with the logistics of the study. The study was supported by a grant from the Research Institute for Extramural and Transmural Health Care, Maastricht.
