We do not know on what basis would they give or deny antibiotics to a child that was coughing up productive sputum, had a fever, some shortness of breath, or some coarse chest crepitations - this is an evidence free zone i.e. there is no evidence to help inform the decision, which is where ARTIC PC is trying to help.
Our aim is to provide evidence to inform the management of chest infections in children.
This study is led by Professors Paul Little from the University of Southampton and Theo Verheij from Utrecht. Paul is internationally known for both trials leadership and for developing clinical prediction rules, and recently led the large GRACE trial of amoxicillin for LRTI in adults (n=2061) and gained funding as PI of the PRIME Programme for the 3C cohort of adults and children (currently n=30,000).
Theo has led numerous observational and intervention studies on respiratory tract infections in primary care and antibiotic use and is involved in both national and international guidelines on respiratory infections.
Recruitment is in full flow at Primary care sites working with the University of Southampton, the University of Bristol and Cardiff University.
The collaborators are international leaders in respiratory infection research, including paediatric respiratory research, and additionally have paediatric trials expertise.
Results
We are recruiting until Spring 2019 so do not expect to have results until Autumn 2019 at the very earliest. Any papers we do publish will be listed here.
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