Avelox for Treatment of Elderly Patients With Community Acquired Pneumonia

Exclusion Criteria

• •Known hypersensitivity to fluoroquinolones- Presence of end-organ damage or shock with need for vasopressors for \> 4 hours at the time of study entry
• •Need for mechanical ventilation at study entry
• •Implanted cardiac defibrillator.- Significant bradycardia with heart rate \< 50 beats/minute.
• •Hospitalized for \> 48 hours before developing pneumonia.
• •Systemic antibacterial therapy for more than 24 hours within 7 days of enrollment unless the patient was deemed a treatment failure after receiving greater than 72 hours of a non-fluoroquinolone antibiotic.
• •Co-existent disease considered likely to affect the outcome of the study (e.g. active lung cancer, connective tissue disease affecting the lungs, bronchiectasis).
• •Mechanical endobronchial obstruction (e.g. endobronchial tumor).
• •Known or suspected active tuberculosis or endemic fungal infection
• •Neutropenia (neutrophil count \< 1000/Microliter).
• •Chronic treatment (equal or longer than 2 weeks) with known immunosuppressant therapy (including treatment with \> 15 mg/day of systemic prednisone or equivalent).
• •Patient with known HIV infection and a CD4 count \< 200/mm3 .
• •Known severe hepatic insufficiency .
• •Renal impairment with a baseline measured or calculated serum creatinine clearance \< 20 mL/min. If a recent value for a 24 hour creatinine clearance is not available then the creatinine clearance should be calculated using the Cockcroft-Gault formula .
• •Known prolongation of the QT interval or use of Class IA or Class III antiarrhythmics (e.g., quinidine, procainamide, amiodarone, sotalol).
• •Uncorrected hypokalemia.
• •Previous history of tendinopathy with quinolones.
• •Previously entered in this study.- Participated in any clinical investigational drug study within 4 weeks of screening.
• •Known or suspected concomitant bacterial infection requiring additional systemic antibacterial treatment.
• •Patients with a history of a hypersensitivity reaction to multivitamin infusion (MVI) or pre-existing hypervitaminosis.