July 31, 2023

New research findings have been published on whether a 5-day course of antibiotics is as effective as a standard 10-day course for treating urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children. In a randomized clinical trial, data indicate children assigned to standard-course therapy had lower rates of treatment failure than children assigned to short-course therapy, but the rate in both treatment groups was low. The low failure rate of short-course therapy suggests that it could be considered as a reasonable option for children exhibiting clinical improvement after 5 days of antimicrobial treatment.

The findings can be found in Short-Course Therapy for Urinary Tract Infections in Children: The SCOUT Randomized Clinical Trial, published in JAMA Pediatrics. Westat’s Walter Faig, PhD, Stephen Black, MS, and Elizabeth Rowley, PhD, are among the authors