Azithromycin, With or Without Loperamide, to Treat Travelers' Diarrhea

Summary

In a previous study azithromycin proved as efficacious as levofloxacin in the treatment of travelers' diarrhea in Mexico. Because the addition of loperamide to some antibiotics (e.g., trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and ofloxacin) has proven more efficacious than antibiotic alone in the treatment of travelers' diarrhea, we decided to study the addition of loperamide to azithromycin. US adults with acute diarrhea in Guadalajara Mexico were randomized to receive azithromycin in two different doses or loperamide plus azithromycin. The duration of diarrhea was shorter (11 hours) in the combination-treated group compared to the antibiotic-treated groups (34 hours). The percentage of subjects continuing to pass 6 or more unformed stools in the first 24 hours was less (1.7%) in the combination-treated group than in the antibiotic-treated groups (20%). We feel loperamide should routinely be added to an antibiotic to optimize treatment of travelers' diarrhea.

Timeline

Start

2002-06

Primary completion

2003-08

Completion

2003-08

Publications

• Background Adachi JA, Ericsson CD, Jiang ZD, DuPont MW, Martinez-Sandoval F, Knirsch C, DuPont HL. Azithromycin found to be comparable to levofloxacin for the treatment of US travelers with acute diarrhea acquired in Mexico. Clin Infect Dis. 2003 Nov 1;37(9):1165-71. doi: 10.1086/378746. Epub 2003 Sep 30.
• Background Ericsson CD, DuPont HL, Okhuysen PC, Jiang ZD, DuPont MW. Loperamide plus azithromycin more effectively treats travelers' diarrhea in Mexico than azithromycin alone. J Travel Med. 2007 Sep-Oct;14(5):312-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1708-8305.2007.00144.x.

Drugs

Indications