Gatifloxacin used for therapy of outpatient community-acquired pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae1 1Appropriate informed consent was obtained, and clinical research was conducted in accordance with guidelines for human experimentation as specified by the institutional review boards or independent committees of the participating institutions.

Gatifloxacin is an advanced-generation fluoroquinolone with demonstrated efficacy and safety as therapy for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). As part of a phase IV postmarketing surveillance program (TeqCES), 136 outpatients with CAP whose sputum was culture-positive for Streptococcus pneumoniae were enrolled in an open-label trial of oral gatifloxacin 400 mg daily for 7 to 14 days. An antibiogram of isolates showed 100% susceptibility to gatifloxacin (MIC(90) 0.5 micro g/mL) and respective susceptibilities of 67%, 70%, and 80% to penicillin, erythromycin, and tetracycline. Clinical cure was achieved in 95.3% of evaluable patients, including seven patients infected with penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae (MIC > or =2 micro g/mL). The bacteriologic eradication rate for S. pneumoniae was 94.5%. Diarrhea, nausea, and dizziness, the most common adverse events in CAP patients (<3%), were generally mild to moderate; no serious adverse events were recorded. These results support recommendations to treat CAP, particularly due to S. pneumoniae including multidrug-resistant strains, with the newer 8-methoxy-fluoroquinolone, gatifloxacin.