CAP-IT
Efficacy, safety and impact on antimicrobial resistance of duration and dose of amoxicillin treatment for young children with Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP): a randomised controlled trial
Is a lower dose or a shorter duration of oral amoxicillin just as effective as prescribing a higher dose or a longer duration of oral amoxicillin in children with uncomplicated pneumonia?
What is this study about?
Childhood pneumonia is usually treated with the antibiotic amoxicillin. When children don’t need to be in hospital, they can safely be treated at home with up to 7 days of amoxicillin.
There is a lot of experience with using amoxicillin for the treatment of childhood pneumonia. However, surprisingly little is known about how best to use this antibiotic.
Dose of amoxicillin treatment
The CAP-IT trial will compare treatment with amoxicillin at 2 different doses (low or high). Both the low and high doses of amoxicillin are considered safe and are currently being used but higher doses of antibiotics can result in more side effects, such as diarrhoea, for patients.
Length of treatment with amoxicillin
There are some studies which suggest that 3 days of treatment could be as good as 7 days of treatment for pneumonia. This has been shown to be safe and effective in adults. Again, longer antibiotic courses can result in more side effects.
The CAP-IT study will compare two different durations of amoxicillin treatment: 3 days of treatment (shorter) or 7 days of treatment (longer).
Resistance to antibiotics
The study will also look at which dose and duration reduces the chance of antibiotic resistance affecting children treated with amoxicillin for pneumonia.
Type of study
Randomised trial
Contact details
Who is funding the study?
NIHR HTA.
When is it taking place?
March 2016 – August 2019 (42 months).
Where is it taking place?
Paediatric Emergency Departments (PED),Paediatric Assessment Unit (PAU) and paediatric hospital wards across the UK
Who is included?
Children aged 1-5 years presenting to A&E or Paediatric Assessment Unit (PAU) in the UK who have a clinical diagnosis of CAP and in whom the decision has been made to treat with amoxicillin.
Related News
CAP-IT childhood pneumonia trial opens
02 Mar 2017