Antibiotic don't necessarily improve outcomes for children discharged from the emergency department who are suspected of having pneumonia, according to a study published in Pediatrics.
Researchers studied 337 children, ages 3 months to 18 years, who were discharged from the ED with suspected community-acquired pneumonia.
They found no difference in outcomes between the group of patients who received an antibiotic prescription when discharged from the ED and the group who did not.
Rates of returning to hospital after discharge from the ED and starting or changing antibiotic prescriptions within two weeks of discharge were similar for both groups.