Antibiotic treatment for community acquired pneumonia in children till five years of age at a private hospital in Ekurhuleni

Abstract
Pneumonia is the leading cause of death in children below the age of five years. There are two categories of pneumonia which are community acquired pneumonia (CAP) and hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP). Pneumonia can be prevented through vaccination. However, the prevalence of other causes of pneumonia other than bacterial causes for example, viral pneumonia, is on the rise. The first part of the study introduces CAP as a condition, shows the burden of the disease (statistically) worldwide and in SA as well. The literature review explores epidemiology and aetiology of the disease. Focus was on gathering data of the most prescribed antimicrobials. This report focuses on data collation for the antimicrobials prescribed (which in turn shows trends or doctor prescribing pattern), days spent in hospital, any possible correlation between choice of antimicrobial and duration of admission. The secondary data collected was compared to several other studies that had similar topics to have a point of reference for comparison with the findings of this study under the results and discussion section. It was concluded first that amoxicillin/clavulanate is effective for the treatment of pneumonia infection. Second that ceftriaxone is an effective alternative for treating pneumonia compared to the classic agents. Last the study concluded that the clinical outcomes for children hospitalized with CAP on narrow-spectrum antibiotic are not significantly different from treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Medicine) in Pharmaceutical Affairs to the Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021
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