Switching antibiotic therapy from injectable to oral to optimise the duration of inpatient care for young infants presenting with moderate-mortality-risk signs of possible serious bacterial infection: an open-label, multicountry, randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: In low-resource settings, challenges in hospitalisation stay for sick young infants younger than 2 months persist. Early discharge of young infants with moderate-mortality-risk possible serious bacterial infection (PSBI) signs might provide a safe and effective alternative. We compared the clinical outcomes of switching parenteral antibiotics to oral antibiotics along with hospital discharge after 48 h of admission with those who continued hospitalisation for 7 days. METHODS: An open-label, multicountry, multicentre, individually randomised controlled trial was done in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Tanzania. Young infants aged 1-59 days presenting with moderate-mortality-risk PSBI signs were screened and hospitalised for inpatient care with injectable ampicillin and gentamicin. After 48 h of admission, young infants without any PSBI sign, and negative…