Abstract
Amikacin 15 mg/kg/day given in two divided intramuscular injections was used in the treatment of thirty children with various bacterial infections. Disc diffusion tests indicated that all pathogens were susceptible to amikacin. All but one of the isolates, a D. pneumoniae strain, were Gram-negative and all were resistant to two or more of the other antibiotics tested: gentamicin, kanamycin, polymixin and carbenicillin. Pre-and post-treatment laboratory tests of hepatic, renal and hematopoietic functions yielded no evidence of amikacin toxicity. The clinical and bacteriologic cures achieved in ail the cases indicate that amikacin is a valuable antibiotic for populations in which Gram-negative bacteria resistant to other antibiotics are frequently encountered.
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