Amoxicillin Versus Benzyl Penicillin for Treatment of Children Hospitalised With Severe Pneumonia

Case management for the treatment of childhood acute respiratory infections has been widely promoted in many developing countries for over 20 years. Despite this, pneumonia continues to claim over 1.5 million lives of children under five annually. The use of affordable, easily-administered, safe, effective treatments can potentially reduce the burden of childhood pneumonia. The WHO recommends the use of a single antibiotic for the treatment of severe pneumonia. Whereas in Asia, evidence from large randomized clinical trials has changed policy recommendations for treatment of severe pneumonia from parenteral penicillin to oral amoxicillin, there is little evidence to inform a similar move in African children where pneumonia is associated with poorer outcomes. In this study the investigators will investigate effectiveness of oral amoxicillin versus the current standard treatment, benzyl penicillin in severe childhood pneumonia using a randomized controlled non-inferiority design preceded by a pilot pre-intervention phase. The investigators will also collect observational data HIV-exposed / infected children with severe pneumonia. 594 children aged 2 - 59 months admitted with clinical signs of severe pneumonia to up to 7 hospitals in Kenya will be randomly assigned to receive either oral amoxicillin or injectable benzyl penicillin. They will then be followed up for the primary outcome of pre-defined treatment failure at 48 hours. The results of this trial will provide valuable data on the effectiveness of oral amoxicillin in the treatment of severe pneumonia in a population of Kenyan children and determine the practicability of conducting large pragmatic trials on pneumonia in Africa similar to those done in Asia.

Inclusion criteria

• Clinical signs of WHO-defined severe pneumonia
• Age 2 months to 59 months

Exclusion criteria

• Clinical signs of WHO-defined very severe pneumonia
• Clinical or laboratory diagnosis of meningitis
• Clinical diagnosis of severe malnutrition (marasmus/kwashiorkor)
• Clinical or laboratory diagnosis of severe anaemia requiring transfusion
• HIV-exposure on rapid HIV antibody test (only observational data will be collected from these patients)
• Elimination of signs of severe pneumonia in a child with wheeze after outpatient bronchodilator therapy
• Chronic condition that may underlie or contribute to a presentation with respiratory distress such as: known chronic renal or cardiac disease, presence of cerebral palsy predisposing child to aspiration/hypostatic pneumonia
• Established bronchiectasis or congenital abnormality of the lower respiratory tract
• Upper airway obstruction producing stridor
• Admission from outpatient clinic specifically for treatment of TB
• Referral from another inpatient facility following treatment with injectable antibiotics for more than 24 hours or because the initial regimen is considered to have failed
• Documented history of >48hours treatment with oral amoxicillin
• Failure to obtain informed consent
• Penicillin allergy