Short Versus Standard of Care Antibiotic Duration for Children Hospitalized for CAP

The goal of this open label, randomized, non-inferiority clinical trial is to compare the treatment success of a 5 day antibiotic course versus a standard antibiotic course (usually 7-14 days of antibiotics) in hospitalized children aged 3 months to 18 years, with uncomplicated community acquired pneumonia. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does a 5 day course work as well as standard (longer) courses of antibiotics for treating community acquired pneumonia in children? * Does a 5 day course cause less antibiotic side effects compared to a standard (longer) course of antibiotics in children with community acquired pneumonia? Participants will * be randomly assigned to either receive 5 total days or a total duration decided by the treating physician * receive a brief follow up questionnaire regarding clinical symptoms, follow up care/antibiotics, and side effects via phone or email at days 5 and 14 from the start of antibiotics Researchers will compare the experimental group (receiving 5 days duration) with the control group (standard duration) to see if 5 days is as successful as a standard duration.

NCT Number	NCT06494072
Lead Sponsor	Medical College of Wisconsin
Conditions	Community Acquired Pneumonia in Children
Enrollment	236 participants
Start Date	2024-08-22
Primary Completion	2028-05 (estimated)
Study Completion	2028-05 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-03-02