Observations on the use of sulfamerazine in 200 children at the North General Hospital

ABSTRACT

1. A group of 200 children who received sulfamerazine for infections in which chemotherapy was felt to be indicated, were observed at the North General Hospital during the period from 1946-19472. The youngest was a two-day old infant with bilateral bronchopneumonia; and the oldest, a boy of 15 with basal pneumonia3. Eleven cases showed mild, transient, toxic reactions, of which crystalluria was the most common4. Clinical improvement in bronchopneumonias was observed by the second dose. The response in asthmatic bronchitis was even more remarkable. The average dose used in moderate cases was 4.9 grams in 3.5 days5. The recovery rate in the group of bronchopneumonias was 75.9 per cent; and death rate, 0.73 per cent6. The blood showed no change in the red cells and hemoglobin. There was a drop in the leucocytes to nearly normal. The neutrophiles were diminished, with a corresponding rise in the lymphocytes7. While we are not in a position to deduce from these observations that sulfamerazine is a better sulfonamide than sulfadiazine, we may state that the longer interval of administration, the smaller dose, and the relatively few and mild toxic reactions make it a very satisfactory chemotherapeutic drug. (Summary)