Comparative study of cefetamet pivoxil and penicillin V in the treatment of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis.

The efficacy of cefetamet pivoxil (20 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg b.i.d.) was investigated in an open, prospective, randomized, comparative multicenter trial involving 148 children suffering from group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) pharyngo-tonsillitis. Phenoxymethylpenicillin given for 10 days was used as the reference drug and resulted in 15% treatment failures. After treatment with cefetamet pivoxil 20 mg/kg b.i.d., 2 failures (5.8%) were observed in 34 patients treated for 7 days and 2 (6%) in 33 patients after 10 days treatment. In 8 children treated with cefetamet pivoxil 10 mg/kg b.i.d. for 10 days, 7 were cured and 1 relapsed in the late follow-up. Recruitment for this dosage group is being continued. No serious adverse events occurred. Cefetamet pivoxil, given b.i.d., can be considered an alternative to phenoxymethylpenicillin in the treatment of GABHS pharyngo-tonsillitis.