Evaluation of oral erythromycin and local isoniazid instillation therapy in infants with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin lymphadenitis and abscesses.

A randomized placebo-controlled prospective trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of erythromycin therapy in 69 patients affected with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin lymphadenitis. When patients who developed subsequent regional abscesses were excluded, erythromycin caused significantly earlier resolution of lymphadenitis (5.1 months vs. 5.7 months for placebo; P<0.01) compared with placebo. There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients who developed subsequent regional abscesses between the 2 groups (47% for erythromycin, 60% for placebo, P=0.14)