Abstract
Abstract Background Viral fever is very common even among hospitalized patients in paediatrics. Often, antibiotics are unnecessarily prescribed leading to antibiotic misuse. In non-critical children, it is prudent to wait for clinical pattern to emerge before starting antibiotics even in hospitalized patients. Aim To study the clinical outcome in non-critical hospitalized children with suspected viral infections and to study the impact of antibiotic stewardship program in the institute. Method It was a prospective observational study carried out from November 2014 to August 2015 in the paediatric ward of Shardaben hospital affiliated to NHL Medical College. All non-critical hospitalized children with suspected viral infections fulfilling pre-defined criteria were included in the study. Patients with prolonged fever >7 days duration were excluded. The clinical course in ward of these patients was noted along with signs of improvement/deterioration. The antibiotic usage in ward over a period of 3 years before and after the implementation of antibiotic stewardship program was compared. Results Of all admitted patients, 1760 (56%) had suspected viral infection not requiring antibiotics on admission. Maximum patients were in 1–5 year age group. 4.6% turned out to be nonviral–bacterial infection/malaria and they required specific treatment. 56% of the study population required 1–3 days hospitalization. None of the patients required PICU admission and there was no mortality. The antibiotic usage reduced from 3.9 vials/admission to 2.36 vials/admission from 2011–12 to 2014–15. Conclusion Fever due to viral infections is very common even among non-critical hospitalized children. It is prudent to wait before starting antibiotics in such patients – it does not worsen the outcome. This study generates evidence for rational use of antimicrobials in paediatric practice. A protocol based ‘Antibiotic Stewardship Program’ can help in rationalizing antibiotic usage in selected group of patients.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have