Child health and development | News | 2008 | Home-based treatment for children with severe pneumonia with oral antibiotics as effective and safe as hospital treatment with injectable antibiotics

Home-based treatment for children with severe pneumonia with oral antibiotics as effective and safe as hospital treatment with injectable antibiotics

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A randomized clinical trial carried out in Pakistan, with support from Boston University School of Public Health and WHO and published in The Lancet, shows that home treatment for children (age 3 to 59 months) with severe pneumonia with oral antibiotics (high dose amoxicillin) is just as effective and safe as hospital treatment with injectable antibiotics (ampicillin), confirming earlier findings from three trials conducted in hospitalized children comparing oral Vs injectable antibiotics. These conclusions do not apply to very severe pneumonia and settings with high HIV prevalence. The implications of these findings are substantial, as they may improve access of children with severe pneumonia to effective treatment while reducing referral, admission, risk of needle-borne infections and treatment and other related costs also for the family. More information is provided here.