Researchers studied how Rifaximin affected 2,579 patients. Researchers treated the patients with 550 mg of Rifaximin for two weeks, followed by a four-week observation period. Researchers then followed the patients for up to 18 weeks or until their IBS-D returned. Those who relapsed received two repeat treatments.
Here’s what they found:
1. Approximately 11.9 percent of the open-treatment group experienced infection-related adverse events.
2. Of the patient base, infection-related adverse events were expreinced by 11.9 percent of patients, the most common were upper respiratory tract infections, experienced by 1.6 percent of patients.
3. Researchers broke the results down further into a group of 328 patients that received Rifaximin and a group of 308 control patients. In those groups, 18.6 percent and 19.8 percent of patients experienced adverse events, respectively. However, serious adverse infection-related events were low for both groups.
4. Salix’s medical team found most of the infections were not associated with rifaximin treatment. They said multiple two-week courses of rifaximin did not increase the risk of developing an infection, including fungal infections, in patients with IBS-D.
Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai’s Director of Medically Associated Science and Technology Mark Pimentel, MD, said, “This new data further supports the safety of rifaximin and reinforces yet another potential benefit for IBS-D patients who are on this treatment.”
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