Moxalactam therapy for bacterial pneumonia.

Therapy with moxalactam was evaluated in 71 patients with bacterial pneumonia. Ninety-two percent of patients with pneumonia due to gram-positive cocci, anaerobes, or Haemophilus influenzae were cured. One patient developed probable pneumococcal meningitis during treatment of sputum culture-positive pneumococcal pneumonia. Six of 10 patients with pneumonia due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Enterobacteriaceae were cured also. However, two of these patients became colonized with moxalactam-resistant organisms, which were of the same species as the organism that caused the original infection. Two of the four patients in whom treatment failed were infected with P. aeruginosa and then developed superinfection with moxalactam-resistant Pseudomonas. Phlebitis and pain on intramuscular injection were the most common adverse effects observed. The results of this study, demonstrate that moxalactam may constitute effective therapy for bacterial pneumonia, but the development of resistance during therapy may limit its usefulness against Pseudomonas infections.