Basic and clinical studies on fleroxacin

We performed laboratory and clinical studies on fleroxacin, a new synthetic fluorinated quinolone antimicrobial agent, with the following results. 1. Antimicrobial activity The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of fleroxacin against 13 species and 303 clinically isolated strains, were determined and compared with those of ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin, using the MIC-2000 system (Dynatech Laboratories). Fleroxacin had broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against clinically isolated strains except Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. 2. Clinical efficacy Fleroxacin (200 or 300 mg/day) was given to 17 patients with infections (2 with bacterial pneumonia, 10 with chronic bronchitis, 4 with acute bronchitis and one with urinary tract infection) for 4-9 days. Clinical response was excellent in 2, good in 11, and ineffective in 3 patients with respiratory infections. Overall clinical efficacy was 81.3%. Three strains of Haemophilus influenzae and one each of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Streptococcus pyogenes were eradicated. One strain of S. pneumoniae was eradicated, but another was not evaluable. One strain of Escherichia coli, isolated from UTI, was eradicated. As a side effect, nausea was noted in one patient, but no altered laboratory findings were observed in any of the patients.