Cephapirin in Acute Lung Diseases in Children

Abstract

Parenteral administration, intravenous followed by intramuscular, or intramuscular alone, cured thirty children with pneumonia and empyema caused by S. aureus, D. pneumoniae, Klebsiella sp. and other gram-negative bacteria, within one to three weeks. Pathogens disappeared from pleural pus in all empyema cases within the first forty-eight hours of treatment. Following intravenous administration peak plasma levels (117 mcg/ml) were obtained in five minutes, and following intramuscular injections peak plasma levels (55 mcg/ml) were obtained in one hour. High concentration levels were observed in pleural pus (23-37 mcg/ml) in two hours. The drug was very well tolerated both locally and systemically.