Antibiotics for preventing suppurative complications from undifferentiated acute respiratory infections in children under five years of age

The review set out to assess the effectiveness and safety of antibiotics in preventing bacterial complications in children aged two months to 59 months with undifferentiated Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs). ARIs are more common in pre-school children in low-income countries and are responsible for 75% of the total amount of prescribed antibiotics in high-income countries. One possible rationale for prescribing antibiotics is the wish to prevent bacterial complications. The review concludes that Current evidence does not provide support for the use of antibiotics to prevent otitis media and pneumonia in children up to five years of age with common upper ARIs. Further high-quality research is needed to provide more definitive evidence of the effectiveness of antibiotics in this population.
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news