Children with fast-breathing pneumonia who were treated with oral amoxicillin had a significantly lower rate of treatment failure compared with children who received a placebo, according to results of a randomized clinical trial published in JAMA Pediatrics. However, by day 4, treatment outcomes were comparable between the two groups.

Amy Sarah Ginsburg, MD, MPH, a senior advisor in international programs at Save the Children U.S.A., and colleagues wrote that pneumonia causes death in approximately 920,000 children aged younger than 5 years around the world. This number, the researchers wrote, underscores the need for more access to care and appropriate antibiotic treatment.