Rokitamycin (RKM) in Campylobacter enteritis in children

Rokitamycin (RKM) is a new oral macrolide antibiotic developed by Toyo Jozo Co., Ltd. It has superior antibacterial activity to existing 16-membered ring macrolides such as josamycin (JM) and midecamycin (MDM). It also gives characteristically high blood levels. In our study, RKM was administered to 24 children with Campylobacter enteritis. The results obtained are summarized as follows. 1. Blood was no longer present in stools in any of the cases one day after the initiation of RKM administration. 2. Stool textures showed complete improvement in 2 days after the start of RKM administration in 15 of 18 evaluable cases, and in 4 days in all cases. 3. All cases showed good or better clinical response. 4. Bacteriological eradication was obtained in all the cases. 5. The MICs of RKM were determined against 23 isolates of Campylobacter jejuni, and were found to be at or below 0.2 µg/ml for all of the isolates. These values were one or two dilutions lower than those of MDM and JM, but one or two dilutions higher than those of erythromycin. 6. No side effects were observed in any of the cases. From the above results, RKM appears to be a useful agent in the treatment of Campylobacter enteritis.