Giving antibiotics to help prevent inflammation in patients with coronary disease is an attractive idea to clinical researchers for a number of reasons. Many studies have focused on whether antibiotics can help change the course of coronary artery syndromes. Results have been mixed, with smaller studies tending to show benefits but larger trials showing no advantages.

One large study, Antibiotic Therapy after an Acute Myocardial Infarction (ANTIBIO), monitored 868 patients for 12 months. Patients who were given roxithromycin (e.g., Generic Rulid®, Aventis) 300 mg/day for six weeks fared no better and no worse than patients given placebo. Of 431 patients in the drug group, 28 died (6.5%); of 437 placebo patients, 26 died (6%).

The ANTIBIO researchers noted that the type of macrolide ( generic roxithromycin or azithromycin drug [Zithromax tablet, Pfizer]), the type coronary artery disease (unstable or stable), the duration of therapy, and whether or not patients had C. pneumo-niae infection did not seem to have a major impact on the effect of antibiotic treatment. Because smaller trials have been more likely to show benefits, the researchers suggest that the effect of antibiotics, when added to standard therapy, might be very small and perhaps limited to certain patient subgroups, such as patients with high antibody titers. They add that their findings challenge the hypothesis that C. pneumoniae plays a major role in the pathogenesis of arteriosclerosis.

A probiotic drink twice a day can help reduce antibiotic-related diarrhea, and it may even keep health care costs down, say researchers from the United Kingdom.

One hundred thirty-five hospitalized patients (mean age, 74 years) drank Actimel (Dannon), a probiotic yogurt drink containing Lactobacillus casei, L. bulgaricus, and Streptococcus thermophilus during their course of antibiotics and for one week afterward. Control patients were given a sterile milk shake.

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Studies have shown that formulary restrictions can be an effective means of controlling drug use, but concerns have arisen about clinical consequences, say researchers from Canada. One retrospective study, for example, suggested that restricting fluoroquinolones drug could lead to more hospitalizations for pyelonephritis and bronchitis. To confirm these findings, the researchers conducted a study using a database of 1.4 million older adults.

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The FDA has informed health care professionals and consumers that the Cochlear Implant device used by deaf and hearing-impaired patients has been associated with an increased risk of bacterial meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. Children with these implants that have a positioner component are considered to be at a greater risk.

Within the past year, two children, 9 and 11 years of age, died as a result of meningitis. Neither child had received a full round of vaccinations, and the cause of death was attributed to this omission in one of the children.

(Source: FDA, October 10, 2007.)

Natural Alternatives For Antibiotics?

Thanks to ongoing research and a growing demand for antibiotic alternatives, we now have reliable choices to combat viruses and bacterial infections.

It appears a primary antibiotic alternative is colloidal silver. In the wide range of choices of colloidal silver products, one leads; The New Silver Solution.

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