Loading...
The optimal length of antibiotic therapy (AT) for pneumonia in neonates is unknown, but current practice is to keep the patient hospitalized until therapy is completed. These authors previously demonstrated that length of AT could be reduced from 7 to 4 days without significant relapse (see J Perinatol 2000; 20:421). In this study, they compared a 2-day AT course with a 4-day course to see if hospitalization could be shortened further.
Infants with suspected pneumonia (age, ≥35 weeks' gestation; weight, ≥2100 g) who were admitted to the newborn nursery and did not require continuous monitoring or ventilatory support were eligible. Twenty-six infants with radiographic and neutrophil-count abnormalities whose symptoms began at least 6 hours af…