Antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia in children
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pneumonia caused by bacterial pathogens is the leading cause of mortality in children in low-income countries. Early administration of antibiotics improves outcomes.
OBJECTIVES: To identify effective antibiotics for community acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children by comparing various antibiotics.
SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2009, issue 2) which contains the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group's Specialised Register; MEDLINE (1966 to September 2009); and EMBASE (1990 to September 2009).
SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in children of either sex, comparing at least two antibiotics for CAP within hospital or ambulatory (outpatient) settings.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently extracted data from full articles of selected studies.
MAIN RESULTS: There were 27 studies, which enroled 11,928 children, comparing multiple antibiotics. None compared antibiotic with placebo.For ambulatory treatment of non-severe CAP, amoxycillin compared with co-trimoxazole had similar failure rates (OR 0.92; 95% CI 0.58 to 1.47) and cure rates (OR 1.12; 95% CI 0.61 to 2.03). (Three studies involved 3952 children).In children hospitalised with severe CAP, oral amoxycillin compared with injectable penicillin or ampicillin had similar failure rates (OR 0.95; 95% CI 0.78 to 1.15). (Three studies involved 3942 children). Relapse rates were similar in the…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a meta-analysis, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 11,928 participants or records.
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