Current antibiotic use in the treatment of enteric fever in children

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Antimicrobial resistance is a major challenge in the treatment of typhoid fever with limited choices left to empirically treat these patients. The present study was undertaken to determine the current practices of antibiotic use in children attending a tertiary care hospital in north India. METHODS: This was a descriptive observational study in children suffering from enteric fever as per the case definition including clinical and laboratory parameters. The antibiotic audit in hospitalized children was measured as days of therapy per 1000 patient days and in outpatient department (OPD) as antibiotic prescription on the treatment card. RESULTS: A total of 128 children with enteric fever were included in the study, of whom, 30 were hospitalized and 98 were treated from OPD. The mean duration of fever was 9.5 days at the time of presentation. Of these, 45 per cent were culture positive with Salmonella Typhi being aetiological agent in 68 per cent followed by S. Paratyphi A in 32 per cent. During hospitalization, the average length of stay was 10 days with mean duration of defervescence 6.4 days. Based on antimicrobial susceptibility ceftriaxone was given to 28 patients with mean duration of treatment being six days. An additional antibiotic was needed in six patients due to clinical non-response. In OPD, 79 patients were prescribed cefixime and additional antibiotic was needed in five during follow up visit. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: Based on our findings, ceftriaxone and cefixime seemed to be the first line of antibiotic treatment for typhoid fever. Despite susceptibility, clinical non-response was seen in around 10 per cent of the patients who needed combinations of antibiotics.