Guidelines for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review of the evidence for antimicrobial therapy.

ABSTRACT: Background Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) affects nearly 20 million children worldwide and is responsible for up to 1 million deaths per year in children under the age of 5 years. Current WHO guidelines recommend oral amoxicillin for children with uncomplicated malnutrition and parenteral benzylpenicillin and gentamicin for those with complicated malnutrition. Because of cost pressures and increasing antimicrobial resistance, the administration of empirical antibiotics for children with SAM has recently been debated. Methods A systematic review of the current published literature was undertaken to assess the efficacy, safety, cost-effectiveness and pharmacokinetics of antimicrobial treatment of children with SAM in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and M

SUBMITTER: Williams PCM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5972636 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature