Choice and Duration of Antimicrobial Therapy for Neonatal Sepsis and Meningitis

Table 2

Randomized controlled trials of short- versus long-course antibiotic therapy in neonatal bacterial sepsis/pneumonia.

Author	Population	Antibiotics used	Duration of treatment	Outcomes	Conclusion
Engle et al., 2000 [53]	Term and near-term neonates with pneumonia.; Excluded babies with meconium stained amniotic fluid and O2 requirement for >8 hours.	Ampicillin and gentamicin	4 days (𝑛=35); versus; 7 days (𝑛=38)	Success defined as neonates doing well after discharge and no need for rehospitalization for sepsis or pneumonia	The success rate for therapy was similar between the two groups
Chowdhary et al., 2006 [54]	≥32 weeks and >1500 grams with positive blood culture.; Excluded deep seated infections and meningitis	Not specified	7 days (𝑛=34); versus; 14 days (𝑛=35)	Treatment failure within 28 days	There was a trend towards more treatment failures in 7-day group as compared to 14-day group (5 infants versus 1 infant, 𝑃=0.19)
Gathwala et al., 2010 [55]	Infants ≥32 weeks and >1500 grams with positive blood culture.; Excluded deep seated infections and meningitis	Cefotaxime and amikacin	10 days (𝑛=30); versus; 14 days (𝑛=30)	Treatment failure within 28 days	10-day course was as effective as 14-day course in blood-culture-proven neonatal