Campylobacter infections antibiotics

Campylobacter species are most commonly responsible for outbreaks of bacterial gastroenteritis in developed countries. The majority of die gastrointestinal Campylobacter infections do not require antibiotic treatment and are selflimiting. Where treatment is required, erythromycin is usually recommended. However, fluoroquinolones are often also used pending laboratory results, because they can cover additional bacterial pathogens and are better tolerated than erythromycin. 

Antibiotics have a recognized role in the treatment of culture-proven bacterial causes of symptomatic enteric infection such as Shigella spp., Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella typhi. The use of antibiotics in the treatment... 

Although erythromycin is a well-established antibiotic, there are relatively few primary indications for its use. These indications include the treatment of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections, eradication of Corynebacterium diphtheriae from pharyngeal carriers, the early preparox-ysmal stage of pertussis, chlamydial infections, and more recently, the treatment of Legionnaires disease, Campylobacter enteritis, and chlamydial conjunctivitis, and the prevention of secondary pneumonia in neonates. 

As antibiotics at subtherapeutic levels are banned in many countries, the addition of prebiotics to animal feed is becomes increasingly attractive. This is more to improve the well being of the animal nutritionally rather than improve or sustain a healthy microflora. Withdrawal of antibiotics from feed may leave livestock more susceptible to enteric infections. Pigs, calves, poultry, and rabbits often suffer from Clostridia-associated infections, whereas broilers are prone to Campylobacter and Salmonella infections, pigs are also at risk from pathogenic... 

The macrolide antibiotics include erythromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin, tylosin, tilmicosin and tiamulin. Clindamycin and lincomycin are related lincosamides. Susceptible bacteria include staphylococci, streptococci, Campylobacter jejunii, Clostridium spp., R. equi, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia spp. Drugs in this group are only effective against a few Gram-negative bacteria in cattle, namely some strains of Pasteurella and Haemophilus spp. Macrolides and lincosamides are associated with causing colitis in horses, so their use is usually restricted to p.o. erythromycin for the treatment of R. equi infections in foals. Subantimicrobial doses of erythromycin are administered i.v. to horses for gastrointestinal prokinetic action. 

This antibiotic is equal to erythromycin against Campylobacter spp. Its clinical use is limited to treatment of pharyngotonsillitis, mild-to-moderate respiratory tract infections, and skin and soft tissue infections [115]. The major advantage of dirithromycin over erythromycin is the favorable pharmacokinetic properties permitting once-daily oral administration of 500 mg. 

A. Ternhag, T. Asikainen, J. Giesecke and K. Ekdahl, A meta-analysis on the effects of antibiotic treatment on duration of symptoms caused by infection with Campylobacter species, Clin. Infect. Dis., 2007, 44, 696-700. 

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