Longer-term Antibiotic Treatments for Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children

The optimal duration of antibiotic treatment for children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) has not been clearly defined yet. A recent study compared the effectiveness and safety of shorter antibiotic treatment duration versus longer duration for children with CAP. 

This study entailed searches from Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, and CINAHL databases and included randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing shorter (≤5 days) antibiotic treatments with longer ones in children with CAP.

Overall, 16 trials involving 12,774 patients treated with oral antibiotics as outpatients met the eligibility criteria. The results revealed no significant differences between shorter-duration and longer-duration antibiotics concerning clinical cure, risk difference, treatment failure, and relapse. When compared to longer-duration antibiotics, shorter-duration antibiotics did not significantly increase mortality. Of note, the need for changing antibiotics showed little or no impact. The same was true for the need for hospitalization and severe adverse events.

Hence, it was inferred that the antibiotic therapy duration has no significant impact on patient-important outcomes. Healthcare providers are encouraged to prioritize the use of shorter-duration antibiotics for children with CAP – treated as outpatients with oral antibiotics.

Source: Gao Y, Liu M, Yang K, et al. Pediatrics. 2023 Jun 1;151(6):e2022060097.