To determine if a single daily dose of
cefadroxil would be effective in the treatment of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS)
pharyngitis, 196 patients with GABHS
pharyngitis were randomly assigned to receive either
penicillin V 250 mg three times daily or
cefadroxil 30 mg/kg once daily, for 10 days. Outcome was measured by the ability to isolate GABHS from the upper respiratory tract 18 to 24 hours after the onset of
therapy, the impact on the
clinical course, and the bacteriologic treatment failure rate. There was no significant difference in the number of patients in the
cefadroxil and
penicillin V treatment groups with throat cultures positive for GABHS at the 18 to 24-hour follow-up visit (0% and 2%, respectively), and the clinical responses of the patients in the two treatment groups were similar. Of the 99 patients in the three times daily
penicillin V group, six (6%) had strains of GABHS isolated on one of the follow-up cultures that were identical to the strains isolated from their initial throat cultures and were considered to have bacteriologic treatment failures. Of the 96 patients in the once daily
cefadroxil group, two (2%) were considered to have bacteriologic treatment failures. A single daily dose of
cefadroxil appears to be as effective in the treatment of GABHS
pharyngitis in this population as
penicillin V given three times daily.