2,6-Dimethoxyphenol Penicillin in Infants and Children

Abstract

The control and treatment of disease due to staphylococci still present a serious medical problem in spite of the availability of many effective antibacterial agents. This is particularly true in the newborn nursery. With improved hygiene, better regulation of nurseries, and the use of potent antibiotics, staphylococcal infection still occurs with considerable frequency. Difficulties in the control of this infection lie both in the facility with which the organism is transmitted as well as in the variable antibiotic resistance patterns observed with hospital strains. Numerous studies and reviews of the epidemiology and bacteriology of nursery-acquired staphylococcal infections have appeared in the literature.1-12 A new derivative of penicillanic acid, 2,6-dimethoxyphenyl penicillin, appears to inhibit the growth, in vitro, of staphylococci resistant to penicillin G.13 Since this isomer is well absorbed on parenteral administration and has been shown to be nontoxic in animals, it appears to offer considerable promise in the prevention and treatment of staphylococcal infections. The present stud¬ ies have been designed to provide data re¬ garding the absorption, toxicity, and efficacy of this drug in the treatment of staphylo¬ coccal infections in infants and children.