Pneumonia affects around 2.5 million children each year in Europe alone. Over the last 5 to 10 years, an increasing number of these children have been admitted to hospital and treated with injected antibiotics. An alternative to this treatment is to prescribe antibiotics in a tablet form that can be taken at home. As this would not require a visit to hospital and would avoid painful injections, this treatment would be much less traumatic for the child and their family, less expensive for the NHS and would leave hospital beds free for those in greater need.
Professor Terence Stephenson and his team at the University of Nottingham received funding from the BLF to conduct the first ever trial comparing how well antibiotics work in treating childhood pneumonia, when injected or taken in tablet form. The study involved 243 children, enrolled over a 21-month period at eight UK hospitals. Of this group, half received a week of tablet antibiotic treatment and half received antibiotics injected into a vein.
Professor Stephenson’s research showed that home-based treatment for pneumonia with tablets was just as effective as hospital-based treatment. In fact, the study found that those patients given tablet treatment recovered more quickly and suffered less pain.
Professor Stephenson said: ‘This is good news for children who hate injections; good news for parents whose children will spend less time in hospital; good news for paediatricians who hate sticking needles in children and good news for the NHS as less beds will be occupied and the treatment is cheaper.’
Relevant diseases:Pneumonia
Relevant age groups:Children
Amount awarded:£84,834
Duration: 24 months
