Amoxicillin plus Clavulanic Acid Vs Amoxicillin in the Treatment of Community Acquired Pneumonia in Children: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Controlled Trial

WHO recommendations for the management of Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) have been revised since 2014, amoxicillin is recommended as first choice for oral antibiotic therapy in domiciliary treatment of children. This study was planned to compare cure rate of oral amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid vs oral amoxicillin in children with CAP.

Children aged 6- 36 mo, presenting with the clinical features consistent with the diagnosis of CAP were enrolled. Patients were given oral amoxicillin or amoxycillin plus clavulanic acid for 5 d and followed at 48h, 5^th d and 2 mo. The cure rate, adverse reactions and recurrence were assessed and analysed for these two drugs.

The cure rate of CAP in amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid group was significantly higher as compared to amoxicillin group (93.88% vs 79.17%, p 0.013). The chances of cure rate increased by 15.3% for children receiving oral amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid. Only mild side effects like diarrhea (22.1%), nausea (9.6%), vomiting (5.7%), and maculo-papular rash (2.9%) were observed in both the groups. All the cured children were followed up to 2 mo and none had recurrence of symptoms.