In a clinical trial testing two different ways to treat Helicobacter pylori infection (a common cause of stomach ulcers), researchers found that four antibiotics given sequentially cured the infection more often than standard treatment with three antibiotics taken together for 10 days.
The cure rate for the sequential treatment was 91 percent compared to 71 percent for the standard treatment.
The sequential regimen was also more effective than conventional therapy for patients with certain antibiotic-resistant H. pylori bacteria.