Short- vs Standard-Course Outpatient Antibiotic Therapy for Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children: The SCOUT-CAP Randomized Clinical Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Childhood community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is usually treated with 10 days of antibiotics. Shorter courses may be effective with fewer adverse effects and decreased potential for antibiotic resistance.

Objective

To compare a short (5-day) vs standard (10-day) antibiotic treatment strategy for CAP in young children.

Design, setting, and participants

Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial in outpatient clinic, urgent care, or emergency settings in 8 US cities. A total of 380 healthy children aged 6 to 71 months with nonsevere CAP demonstrating early clinical improvement were enrolled from December 2, 2016, to December 16, 2019. Data were analyzed from January to September 2020.

Intervention

On day 6 of their originally prescribed t

SUBMITTER: Williams DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8767493 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature