Ceftriaxone therapy in pediatric patients.

Twenty-six children, aged 2 months to 15 years, were treated with intravenous ceftriaxone sodium, 37.5 mg/kg every 12 hours, for an average of seven days. Clinical and microbiologic cures occurred in 19 of 21 patients, from whom bacterial pathogens were cultured. Ceftriaxone was not effective in treating an 18-month-old infant with periorbital cellulitis caused by relatively resistant Staphylococcus aureus. A relapse occurred in a 2-month-old infant with meningitis caused by ceftriaxone-sensitive Salmonella. Eleven patients had transient diarrhea, superficial candidiasis developed in ten patients, and one patient experienced skin flushing during administration of the antibiotic. Transient asymptomatic laboratory abnormalities were detected in 15 patients; nine patients had elevated serum concentrations of transaminases or bilirubin, 11 had thrombocytosis, three experienced eosinophilia, and one had thrombocytopenia. Transient suppression of normal flora of the intestine occurred in 21 patients. Side effects were not serious enough to warrant discontinuing ceftriaxone therapy in any patient.