Doctors could safely prescribe shorter courses of pivmecillinam or third- or fourth-generation fluoroquinolones in women with acute uncomplicated cystitis, findings suggest.

For example, a single dose of sparfloxacin or gatifloxacin induced similar clinical and microbial responses as did three-day regimens, according to a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Three days of pivmecillinam was as effective as five or seven,  researchers report in the Lancet Infectious Diseases.

“Our results suggest that clinicians should consider shorter-duration antibiotic treatment in clinical practice and avoid long-term antibiotic treatment that is used indiscriminately,” said author Dr Kang Su Cho of Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, in Seoul, South Korea.