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Penicillin may no longer be the no-brainer choice to treat Strep throat

Physician Practice Advisor, April 6, 2004

Move over Penicillin, there's a better treatment for Strep!

A meta-analysis of studies in which cephalosporins and penicillin were used to treat Strep throat showed that the cephalosporins were three times as effective in combating the bacterial infection that causes Strep Throat, according to a new study from the University of Rochester Medical Center published in the April issue of Pediatrics.

Penicillin is still the standard treatment of Strep recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Heart Association, and World Health Organization, but researchers are hopeful that the findings based on 35 studies that included more than 7,000 children will prompt a revision of that guideline.

"Many of these doctors aren't in the trenches anymore seeing sick children every day," said lead study author, Janet Casey, MD. "Those of us who are see how frustrating it is for families who need to come back for additional treatments, who wonder why the antibiotic their child took didn't work."

Visit www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/news/story.cfm?id=511 for more information.

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