Antibiotic Use among Vietnamese Children Hospitalized with Pneumonia

Background: The use of antibiotics in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia in children from 2 months to 5 years old at a tertiary hospital in Vietnam still has many shortcomings. Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out based on retrospective data and information collected from 154 inpatient medical records for community-acquired pneumonia at the Department of Pediatrics - Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam in 2021. Clinical and laboratory information, information on antibiotic use in community-acquired pneumonia in pediatric patients, and information on the appropriateness of antibiotic use were collected and analyzed. Results: There were 12 antibiotic regimens initially selected to be used to treat community-acquired pneumonia at the hospital, of which four regimes used one antibiotic and eight regimes used combined antibiotics. The rate of combination regimen gradually increased with disease severity was 22.3%; 38.5% and 50% respectively for mild pneumonia, severe pneumonia and very severe pneumonia. The most commonly used antibiotic groups in the initial regimen are penicillin/β-lactamase inhibitor (alone regimen) and penicillin/β-lactamase inhibitor in combination with macrolides (combination regimen). The rate of initial treatment regimens that were not suitable according to the recommendations accounted for 99.4%. There were 83/154 cases where patients were prescribed antibiotics inappropriately in terms of dose and rhythm or both. Conclusion: The use of antibiotics in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia in children at a tertiary hospital still has shortcomings. It is necessary to develop a system of assessment and monitoring of antibiotic use, from which timely adjustments and controls can be made, to limit the ability of bacteria to develop drug resistance.