Efficacy and safety of garenoxacin tablets on clinically diagnosed atypical pneumonia: postmarketing surveillance in Japan.

We performed a postmarketing surveillance study to determine the efficacy and safety of the oral quinolone antibacterial agent garenoxacin (Geninax(®) Tablets 200 mg) against atypical pneumonia. Between October 2009 and July 2011, patients with community-acquired pneumonia visited 26 facilities in Japan; we collected survey forms from 105 of these patients who were suspected of having atypical pneumonia based on the Japanese Respiratory Society Guidelines for the Management of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Adults. We examined the safety in 105 patients and the efficacy in 71 patients. 1. The efficacy rates among patients suspected of having atypical pneumonia and those with a confirmed diagnosis of atypical pneumonia were 94.8% (55/58 patients) and 92.3% (12/13 patients), respectively. The efficacy rate was 4/4 for patients in whom Chlamydophila pneumoniae was detected (including 1 patient with a polymicrobial infection with another bacterial strain) and 90% (9/10 patients) for patients in whom Mycoplasma pneumoniae was detected (garenoxacin was ineffective in 1 of 2 patients with a polymicrobial infection with another bacterial strain). 2. The incidence of adverse drug reactions (including abnormal laboratory tests) was 4.8% (5/105 patients). Among the adverse drug reactions, gastrointestinal disorders, infection and infestation, nervous system disorder, and skin and subcutaneous tissue disorder were observed in 2.9% of patients (3/105), 1.0% (1/105), 1.0% (1/105), and 1.0% (1/105), respectively. In conclusion, garenoxacin showed an efficacy rate of greater than 90% for suspected atypical pneumonia and confirmed atypical pneumonia. Garenoxacin is considered to be useful in daily practice.