WEDNESDAY, Jan. 28 (HealthDay News) -- A one-day regimen of the antibiotic nitrofurantoin is markedly less effective than a seven-day regimen to treat asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant women, according to research published in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Pisake Lumbiganon, M.D., of Khon Kaen University in Thailand, and colleagues compared the one-day versus seven-day antibiotic regimen in a multicenter, double-blind non-inferiority study that randomized 778 pregnant women with asymptomatic bacteriuria to receive either dosage schedule. Nearly half of infections were due to Escherichia coli. The primary study outcome was bacteriologic cure at day 14.

The rates of bacteriologic cure at day 14 were 75.7 percent and 86.2 percent for the one-day and seven-day regimens, respectively, the investigators found. The researchers report that this 10.5 percent difference indicated that the one-day regimen was statistically significantly less effective compared with the seven-day regimen. In addition, preterm delivery and low birth weight were more frequent in patients receiving the one-day regimen, leading to significant decreases in mean birth weight and mean gestational age at delivery, the report indicates.

"We therefore conclude that women with asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy should be treated by the standard seven-day regimen of nitrofurantoin, if such treatment is selected, until more data becomes available testing seven-day compared with three- or five-day regimens," the authors write.

Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)