Antibiotics Being Used for Too Long?

Taking antibiotics for three days is just as effective as continuing treatment for the recommended 7-10 days.

Taking antibiotics for three days is just as effective for community acquired pneumonia as continuing treatment for the recommended 7-10 days, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.

Shorter treatment can also help contain growing resistance rates, Dutch doctors found.

Researchers in the Netherlands compared the effectiveness of discontinuing treatment with amoxicillin after three days or eight days in adults admitted to hospital with mild to moderate-severe community acquired pneumonia.

119 patients who substantially improved after the conventional three days’ treatment with intravenous amoxicillin were randomly assigned to oral amoxicillin (63 patients) or placebo (56 patients) three times daily for five days. Patients were assessed at days 7, 10 (two days after treatment ended), 14, and 28.

In the three day and eight day treatment groups, the clinical success rate at day 10 was 93% for both, and at day 28 was 90% compared with 88%. Both groups had similar resolution of symptoms, x-ray results, and length of hospital stay.

A shorter duration of treatment can also help to reduce overall antibiotic consumption and resistance rates for respiratory infections, they conclude.