Comparison of standard versus double dose of amoxicillin in the treatment of non-severe pneumonia in children aged 2-59 months: a multi-centre, double blind, randomised controlled trial in Pakistan

Abstract

Clinical outcome in children aged 2-59 months with non-severe pneumonia is the same with standard and double dose oral amoxicillin. Non-severe pneumonia can be treated effectively and safely with a 3 day course of a standard dose.

British Thoracic Society guidelines for the management of community acquired pneumonia in children: update 2011

“…High-dose amoxicillin twice daily is a pharmacokinetically satisfactory dosing regime and may aid compliance159 [Ib] although, in Pakistan, outcomes for infants aged 2–59 months with non-severe outpatient-treated clinical pneumonia were the same with standard and double dose amoxicillin 160. [Ib] …”

Acute respiratory infection and pneumonia in India: A systematic review of literature for advocacy and action: UNICEF-PHFI series on newborn and child health, India

“…Unfortunately the equivalent costs in a developing country setting are not mentioned. [59] compared 45 mg/kg/day versus 90 mg/kg/day oral amoxicillin for 3 days, among children aged 2-59 months with non-severe pneumonia. There was no significant difference in treatment failure between the groups.…”

Dealing with childhood pneumonia in developing countries: how can we make a difference?

“…9-14 Although the differences in clinical response rates in some of these studies may relate to different patient populations and variable application of clinical diagnostic criteria, they may also represent genuine differences in antimicrobial resistance patterns. Notwithstanding the findings by Hazir et al, 5 further studies on the efficacy of amoxicillin are needed in children with radiologically confirmed pneumonia.…”

“…The definition of national blood pressure references for children and young adults, aged 4-23 years, living in Great Britain provides important, complementary information to the updated US guidelines on the management of high blood pressure in children and adolescents aged 1-17 years, 2 as well as to earlier attempts to define normative blood pressure values from other countries. [3][4][5][6][7] In addition, these centiles will integrate existing charts in the UK regarding other important parameters (eg, body mass index), thereby allowing a more comprehensive characterisation of the health of children. Some distinctive aspects of the study by Jackson et al 1 should be highlighted: the representative and large sample size of the seven surveys from which blood pressure data were drawn; the consistent method applied for blood pressure measurements; the use of a statistical technique such as the LMS method to construct blood pressure centiles, which accounts for the skewness (L), median (M), and coefficient of variation (S) of the blood pressure distribution.…”