Long-duration antibiotics for pneumonia ’causes harm’
Odds of an adverse event are 5% greater for each extra day of treatment: study
Patients hospitalised with pneumonia who stay on antibiotics beyond the evidence-based, shortest effective duration are more likely to develop adverse events after discharge, a US study shows.
Researchers from Ann Arbor, Michigan, retrospectively examined data on nearly 6500 medical patients hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia or healthcare-associated pneumonia.
Most (87%) were clinically stable or discharged by day five.
Two-thirds of patients received antibiotics for longer than the shortest effective duration consistent with guidelines, including 72% of those with community-acquired pneumonia and 57% of those with healthcare-associated pneumonia, with a median excess duration of two days overall.
