A Comparative Clinical Analysis of Atovaquone-azithromycin and Triple Antimicrobial Therapy in Canine Babesiosis

The present study was conducted to investigate the comparative effect of Atovaquone+ Azithromycin combination and triple antimicrobial therapy for the management of Babesia gibsoni infection in dogs. Twenty-four dogs were randomly divided into two equal groups (group Aand group B). Group A was treated with triple antibiotic therapy (Doxycycline @ 10 mg/kg, orally, daily+ Clindamycin @ 11 mg/kg, orally, twice daily+ Metronidazole @ 15 mg/kg, orally, twice daily) for 21 days whereas group B was treated with Atovaquone–Azithromycin Combination (Atovaquone @ 13.3 mg/kg, orally, three times daily with a fatty meal + Azithromycin @ 10 mg/kg, orally, once daily) for 10 days. Blood and serum samples were taken before therapy (day 0), day 10, day 20 and day 60 after therapy for haemato-biochemical analysis. Both are groups showed progressive improvement, but group B was better as compare to group in terms of disappearance of clinical signs, parasitological clearance, normalization of haemato-biochemical values, faster recovery and reduced chances of reoccurrence. It is concluded that for Babesia gibsoni infection, treatment with Atovaquone–Azithromycin Combination is better than triple antibiotic therapy.