A major national study led by experts from Nottingham and Bristol has found that oral antibiotics are just as effective as intravenous antibiotics in killing a common germ that causes dangerous complications in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients.
The study looked at the effectiveness of the two types of treatment in tackling Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes a chronic destructive lung infection in CF patients and which cannot be eradicated unless it is caught in the early stages.
The study was led by experts from the University of Nottingham and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW).
I suspect the difference being, IV anti biotics are quicker acting which in some cases could save other complications setting in. There's always a reason when a situation will benefit better from IV over oral.
Not disputing the results, and this trial has been running with cf children in particular for the last 10 years or so, but I think the article is an oversimplification. What defines it being a new infection? What if it’s actually been lurking for weeks without detection and has a good hold? The article declares this works just as well, but then goes on to add in multiple caveats, and the quote from a family involved in the trial reveals their child hasn’t had pseudomonas yet. Very few centres leap to IVs with a first culture these days, anyway: the child’s first eradication attempt under a pretty naff centre was 3 months of cipro a good 9 years ago. Yes, the study confirms that cipro is a viable and effective alternative to IVs, but the reality is actually the same as it’s always been, in that for some people, IVs will be a more appropriate option on clinical grounds. And that’s without getting into the increasing issue of cipro resistance in pseudo strains.
in reply to
You said it all. Oral cipro still works for me even though lab results on sputum show that it should not. Whenever I have had IV (only 3 times) I have had to have a second course, have felt rotten for months and of course, the speudo still lurks. We are all so different in how we react to these drugs and it isn't sensible of them to reduce their conclusions to such simplistic conclusions.
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