Pediatric Antibiotic Stewardship for Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Pre–Post Intervention Study. (November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cohen, Herman Avner; Gerstein, Maya; Loewenberg Weisband, Yiska; Richenberg, Yael; Jacobson, Eyal; Cohen, Moriya; Shkalim Zemer, Vered; Machnes, Maayan Diti
• Is Part Of: Clinical pediatrics. Volume 61:Number 11(2022)
• Page Start: 795
• Page End: 801
• Publication Date: 2022-11
• Subjects: children -- community-acquired pneumonia -- pediatric antibiotic stewardship -- pediatric community health care centers; Pediatrics -- Periodicals; 618.920005
• DOI: 10.1177/00099228221102827
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0009-9228

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of an antibiotic stewardship program (ASP) on antibiotic prescription in children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Antibiotic purchasing data were collected for children aged 3 months to 18 years diagnosed with CAP from November 2016 to April 2017 (pre-intervention period) and from November 2017 to April 2018 (post-intervention period). The intervention was a 1-day seminar for primary care pediatricians on the diagnosis and treatment of CAP in children according to national guidelines. There was a substantial decrease in the use of azithromycin after the intervention. In younger children, there was a 42% decrease, alongside an increased use of amoxicillin ( P < .001). In older children, there was a smaller, non-statistically significant decrease in the use of azithromycin ( P = .45). Our data demonstrate that the implementation of an ASP was associated with a reduction in the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and macrolides and increased guideline adherence for the safe treatment of CAP.