Efficacy of chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin, and tetracycline for treatment of experimental Rocky Mountain spotted fever in dogs.

Abstract

Dogs were experimentally inoculated with Rickettsia rickettsii to characterize the comparative efficacies of chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin, and tetracycline for the treatment of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF). All three antibiotics were equally effective in abrogating the clinical, hematologic, and vascular indicators of rickettsial infection. Antibiotic treatment for 24 h was sufficient to decrease the rickettsemia to levels below detection by Vero cell culture. Early treatment with all three antibiotics resulted in a similar decrease in antibody titer, but acute and convalescent serum samples taken at appropriate times would have still facilitated an accurate diagnosis of RMSF in all but one dog, which did not seroconvert. We conclude that chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin, and tetracycline are equally efficacious for treating experimental canine RMSF.

• Authors: E B Breitschwerdt, M G Davidson, D P Aucoin, M G Levy, N S Szabados, B C Hegarty, A L Kuehne, R L James
• Journal: Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy (Antimicrob Agents Chemother) Vol. 35 Issue 11 Pg. 2375-81 (Nov 1991) ISSN: 0066-4804 [Print] United States
• PMID: 1666498 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Anti-Infective Agents
• Antibodies, Bacterial
• Fluoroquinolones
• Quinolones
• Enrofloxacin
• Chloramphenicol
• Tetracycline

Topics

• Animals
• Anti-Infective Agents (therapeutic use)
• Antibodies, Bacterial (analysis)
• Capillary Permeability (physiology)
• Chloramphenicol (therapeutic use)
• Dogs
• Enrofloxacin
• Female
• Fluorescent Antibody Technique
• Fluoroquinolones
• Quinolones (therapeutic use)
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (drug therapy, microbiology, physiopathology)
• Tetracycline (therapeutic use)
• Vero Cells