To the Editor: Dr. Breese and associates in the article on β-hemolytic streptococcal illness in the Journal (111:128-132, 1966) compares the effectiveness of erythromycin, triacetyloleandomycin, and penicillin G. The cure rates obtained with each drug are 75%, 76%, and 69%, respectively. All three of these cure rates are far below the cure rate obtained using penicillin reported by other studies, including the authors.'1
In this article attempts to study the sera of the patients show that only 8.5% of the patients receiving penicillin showed measurable amounts of antibiotic by the method used.
Could the relatively poor performance of the penicillin be due to the fact that the penicillin G pill was crushed and the contents mixed with some household food such as jelly or chocolate? Penicillin G is poorly absorbed when administration is associated with food. In addition, the dosage schedule used by the authors for children under 50