Suppressive therapy of chronic bronchial infections.

Abstract

The studies of long‐term antibiotic therapy reported in the literature are reviewed. The best clinical and bacteriologic results were obtained with 1 to 2 Gm. of tetracycline administered each day. Lesser degrees of improvement were reported when smaller doses were given, when the antibiotic was administered twice a week, or when therapy was given for a portion of the year only. Penicillin therapy was considerably less effective, erythromycin therapy appeared totally ineffective, and oleandomycin‐penicillin therapy was more effective than penicillin but less so than tetracycline.Untoward reactions occurred in all regimens but, prOvided patients reported them promptly, were not serious. Tetracycline‐resistant staphylococci appeared in the sputum of an occasional patient during therapy with that antibiotic but did not cause any complications, except possibly the development of pneumonia in 1 patient.