Appraisal of multifarious brands of Cephradine for their in vitro antibacterial activity against varied microorganisms

The astounding and exceptional growth of generic pharmaceutical Industry in Pakistan has raised certain questions for drug regulatory authorities contemplating their efficacy and quality. The current study focuses on assessing the in-vitro antimicrobial activity of 24 brands of Cephradine 500mg capsules against 4 different strains by employing standardized methods. Disk diffusion method was performed on all brands to look into the susceptibility and resistance patterns. Standard disk of 5 micro g Cephradine powder were used during evaluation. The zones of inhibitions were ranged from 24-40mm against S. aureus, 24-40mm against E. coli, 20-25mm against K. pneumonia and 19-23mm P. mirabilis. On the basis of mean value, the multinational brands were found to have better zone of inhibitions and were better than local Pharmaceutical companies but ANOVA cooperative study showed that all brands of Cephradine showed similar comparable results. Further investigations by employing MIC method, quality of raw material with special emphasis on the shelf-life, excepients and method of manufacturing will be needed to obtain more authenticated results. The price of National and Multinational brands ranges from Rs.156.00-212.00 for 10 capsules. It is concluded that Public health is at risk because of noticeable growing widespread curse of the manufacture and trade of sub-standard or below par pharmaceuticals. The pecuniary accountability of management of pharmaceutical agents is additionally apparent. The results of the study need to be made public to boost the confidence of medical profession about the quality of locally manufactured pharmaceuticals. It will succor the foreign exchange being incurred on the trade in of medicines

Estudio prospectivo, randomizado, comparativo de la eficacia, seguridad y costos de cefuroxima vs cefradina en la pielonefritis aguda del embarazo / Efficacy, safety and cost of cefuroxime compared with cephradine in the treatment of acute pyelonephritis during pregnancy

Background: Second generation cephalosporins (CFPs) are more active in the treatment of acute pyelonephritis during pregnancy but their cost is considerably higher than their predecessors. Cefuroxime, a second generation CFP with oral and parenteral presentations, might offer significant advantages and become a first choice antimicrobial in this setting. Aim: To compare the efficacy, safety and cost of cefuroxime and cephradine in the treatment of acute pyelonephritis in pregnancy. Patients and methods: Hospitalized women with 12 to 34 weeks of pregnancy, with clinical and bacteriological diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis, were randomly assigned to receive cefuroxime (Curocef (r), GlaxoWellcome) 750 mg t.i.d, i.v or cephradine 1 g q.i.d., i.v. If the isolated organism was resistant to the assigned drug the patient was excluded. Once patients were afebrile, they were switched to an oral form of the same antimicrobial. They were discharged according to the clinical status and treated for a total of 14 days. Laboratory tests, including urine culture were requested during controls and at the end of follow-up at 28 days. Results: One hundred and one patients were randomized: 49 to receive cephradine and 52 to receive cefuroxime. Patients in the cefuroxime group had fewer febrile days (mean 1.7 vs 2.2, p<0.05), faster clinical recovery (mean 2.7 vs 3.1 days, p<0.05), a higher rate of bacteriological cure at 28 days (78.8 percent and 59.2 percent, p<0.05) and lower rate of failure (21.2 percent vs 40.8 percent p<0.05). The rate of resistance of isolated uropathogens was l4 percent to cephradine and 1 percent to cefuroxime. Conclusions: Cefuroxime can be considered as a first choice option in the treatment of acute pyelonephritis during pregnancy due to its tolerance, microbiological activity and efficacy

Susceptibilidad de escherichia coli frente a 13 drogas antimicrobiana / Susceptibility of escherichia coli against 13 antimicrobial drugs

Escherichia coli es uno de los bacilos gram negativos más aislados en nuestras clínicas, provocando diversos cuadros de tipo infeccioso. Por este motivo es importante conocer la susceptibilidad antimicrobiana de esta especie, con el fin de poder administrar drogas antimicrobianas realmente efectivas. Este trabajo determina la sensibilidad cuantitativa "in vitro" de 245 cepas de Escherichia coli, aisladas de diversas muestras clínicas frente a 13 drogas antimicrobianas para lo cual se utilizó el método de dilución en agar de Ericsson y Sherris. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que alrededor del 90 por ciento de las cepas fueron sensibles a Enoxacino, Cefotaxima, Aztreonam, Gentamicina, Ceftriaxzona, Amikacina, Cefuroximo, Cefoperazona y Nitrofurantoina y alrededor del 50 por ciento de las cepas fueron sensibles a Cefradina. Frente a los restantes antimicrobianos-Cloramfenicol, Cotrimoxazol y Ampicilina- se obtuvo un alto nivel de resistencia