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: 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 two groups (OR 1.28; 95% CI 0.34 to 4.82).In very severe CAP, death rates were higher in children receiving chloramphenicol compared to those receiving penicillin/ ampicillin plus gentamycin (OR 1.25; 95% CI 0.76 to 2.07). (One study involved 1116 children). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:
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Authors | Sushil K Kabra, Rakesh Lodha, Ravindra M Pandey |
Journal | The Cochrane database of systematic reviews
(Cochrane Database Syst Rev)
Issue 3
Pg. CD004874
(Mar 17 2010)
ISSN: 1469-493X [Electronic] England |
PMID | 20238334
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Meta-Analysis, Review, Systematic Review)
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Chemical References |
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Topics |
- Adolescent
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
(therapeutic use)
- Child
- Community-Acquired Infections
(drug therapy)
- Drug Therapy, Combination
(methods)
- Humans
- Pneumonia, Bacterial
(drug therapy)
- Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
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