Pneumonia in children to have shorter treatment time than expected

Pneumonia is the most common infection in children less than 5 years. Children are more prone to pneumonia with both mild and serious symptoms.According to a study in  JAMA Pediatrics five days of antibiotics is superior to 10 days for children with community-acquired pneumonia is more than enough.

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common and serious infection that leads to 1.5 million doctor visits in the U.S. each year. Doctors typically treat CAP with a 10-day course of antibiotics, but the standard treatment could have negative effects from the antibiotics themselves or harm caused by unnecessary antibiotic use.

Creech said future research is focused on identifying children with pneumonia who may not require antibiotic therapy at all, since the majority of pediatric pneumonia in the U.S. may be due to viral infections, which do not respond to antibiotics.

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Shorter treatment better for young children with outpatient pneumonia: JAMA