1 Department of Pediatrics, The Jewish Hospital and Medical Center of Brooklyn, 555 Prospect Place, Brooklyn, New York 11238, Downstate Medical Center
I have just read the article by Drs. Young, Haddow, and Klein (Pediatrics, 41:516, 1968) which purportedly attests to the "failure of ampicillin to eradicate Hemophilus influenzae infection."
The authors should add to their Table II, which lists "Factors Responsible for Failure to Eradicate Organisms Following Treatment of Acute Bacterial Meningitis," the omitted factor of inadequate duration of treatment. The lingering fever through the eleventh day of therapy is admitted by the authors, in a gross understatement, as possibly being a "reflection of continuing infection and an indication for continuing treatment longer than the 14 day course." Indeed!