Optimizing Care for Children Hospitalized With Community-acquired Pneumonia: a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial of Short-course Antibiotic Therapy
Children are commonly hospitalized because of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). There are multiple high-quality randomized trials of short-course antibiotic therapy (3-5 days of treatment) for adults hospitalized with CAP - but there is very little evidence in children. We intend to do a pilot RCT of short-course (3-5 days) vs standard-duration (8-10 days) antibiotic therapy for children hospitalized for CAP.
• \- children with a history of fever who are hospitalized with CAP (ie. 'severe CAP') as per the clinical team and who have abnormal chest imaging (eg. radiograph, ultrasound) will be eligible. They must also have at least one of the following:
‣ documented tachypnoea (\>60 bpm for age \<1 y, \>50 bpm for 1-2 y, \>40 bpm for 2-4 y, and \>30 bpm for \>4 y);
⁃ cough on exam or by history;
⁃ increased work of breathing on exam; or
⁃ auscultatory findings (eg. focal crackles, bronchial breathing) consistent with CAP.