Clinical Review of Roxithromycin in respiratory tract infections

Abstract

Infectious respiratory diseases remain among the top five causes contributing to disease burden in India. A multitude of organisms can cause these infections but it is difficult to identify the causative organism in many cases. Antibiotic therapy is the primary mode of management and often needs to be provided as empirical therapy. With rising concerns of drug resistance macrolides are an important antibiotic class for treatment. They have a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria including the important respiratory pathogens S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis. They also have beneficial anti-inflammatory action. Roxithromycin is among the newer macrolides and has been successfully used in treating such upper and lower respiratory tract infections. There has been limited data on the efficacy of roxithromycin in Indian respiratory pathogens. This review compares the susceptibility of Indian respiratory pathogens to roxithromycin wherein this agent was shown to have good in vitro efficacy against key pathogens. This information added to its proven clinical efficacy and safety among various populations make it a suitable option to be considered for the initial or secondary treatment of respiratory infections. Conflict of Interest: We have authored this article in the capacity of employees of Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd.