Ciprofloxacin vs levofloxacin for prophylaxis during hematopoietic stem‐cell transplantation

The objective of the current retrospective study is to compare differences in rate of breakthrough infections for ciprofloxacin versus levofloxacin prophylaxis in an autologous HSCT patients treated for multiple myeloma. This was a retrospective, cohort study comparing autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplant (HSCT) recipients treated for multiple myeloma who received ciprofloxacin prophylaxis versus levofloxacin prophylaxis. A total of 297 patients, 143 levofloxacin and 154 ciprofloxacin-treated were included. There was a significantly higher incidence of bloodstream infections in the ciprofloxacin group (24/154) compared to levofloxacin group (10/143) p=0.03, primarily caused by a statistically higher incidence of gram positive bloodstream infections (ciprofloxacin (21/154) versus levofloxacin (8/143); p<0.01). Clinically relevant differences exist between fluoroquinolone agents used for prophylaxis. Levofloxacin prophylaxis was more effective than ciprofloxacin prophylaxis to reduce the incidence of bloodstream infections in this study. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.