Trial reportBritish medical journal1977
Amoxycillin and co-trimoxazole in presumed viral respiratory infections of childhood: placebo-controlled trial.
Trial report in British medical journal, 1977. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 80 citations in OpenAlex.
- Treatment of acute pharyngitis in children: an Italian intersociety consensus (SIPPS-SIP-SITIP-FIMP-SIAIP-SIMRI-FIMMG).Italian journal of pediatrics · 2024Guideline
- Antibiotics for treatment of sore throat in children and adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Antibiotics for prolonged wet cough in children.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- JAID/JSC Guidelines for the Treatment of Respiratory Infectious Diseases: The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases/Japanese Society of Chemotherapy - The JAID/JSC Guide to Clinical Management of Infectious Disease/Guideline-preparing Committee Respiratory Infectious Disease WG.Journal of infection and chemotherapy : official journal of the Japan Society of Chemotherapy · 2016Guideline
- Antibiotics for preventing suppurative complications from undifferentiated acute respiratory infections in children under five years of age.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Common harms from amoxicillin: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials for any indication.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2015Pooled it
- Antibiotics for sore throat.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Antibiotics for the common cold and acute purulent rhinitis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Are antibiotics effective for acute purulent rhinitis? Systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo controlled randomised trials.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2006Pooled it
- Interventions to improve antibiotic prescribing practices in ambulatory care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2005Pooled it
- The natural history of acute cough in children aged 0 to 4 years in primary care: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2002Pooled it
- Systematic review of the treatment of upper respiratory tract infection.Archives of disease in childhood · 1998Pooled it
- Amoxicillin vs. placebo to reduce symptoms in children with group A streptococcal pharyngitis: a randomized, multicenter, double-blind, non-inferiority trial.European journal of pediatrics · 2024Trial
- Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid is ineffective at preventing otitis media in children with presumed viral upper respiratory infection: a randomized, double-blind equivalence, placebo-controlled trial.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2002Trial
- Beyond Antibiotics: The Role of Antimicrobial Polymers in Modern Therapeutics.Pharmaceutics · 2026Review
- The TARGET cohort study protocol: a prospective primary care cohort study to derive and validate a clinical prediction rule to improve the targeting of antibiotics in children with respiratory tract illnesses.BMC health services research · 2013Observational
- Predicting complications from acute cough in pre-school children in primary care: a prospective cohort study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2004Article
- Antibiotics for acute purulent rhinitis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2002Article
- Article
- Standard management of acute respiratory infections in a children's hospital in Pakistan: impact on antibiotic use and case fatality.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 1996Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A double-blind randomized controlled trial of amoxycillin, co-trimoxazole, and placebo was conducted on 197 children presenting with presumed viral respiratory infections. Routine throat swabs were taken to exclude streptococcal diseases. The three disease categories studied--nasopharyngitis, pharyngotonsillitis, and bronchitis (including laryngotracheobronchitis)--showed a generally similar pattern of resolution irrespective of treatment. Nevertheless, seven out of 66 children receiving placebo were withdrawn from the trial with unremitting symptoms or complications thought to require antimicrobial treatment. Only two of 56 children receiving amoxycillin and none of 75 receiving co-trimoxazole were withdrawn. Three other children receiving amoxycillin and three receiving placebo were seen during the trial but further treatment was not thought to be necessary. Thus the return consultation rate in children receiving placebo therapy was 15% compared with 4% for those receiving antimicrobial treatment. Antimicrobial treatment was associated with less nasal discharge on the eighth day of treatment. Placebo treatment allowed an earlier return to normal activity. There was a high incidence of possible side effects on all regimens including placebo. It is concluded that the benefits of antimicrobial treatment in presumed viral respiratory infections are marginal, and they should not be routinely prescribed for these conditions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.