ArticleCureus2026
Antibiotic Prescribing Patterns in Hospitalized Pediatric Patients With Clinically Suspected Enteric Fever: A Descriptive Study.
Article in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEnteric fever remains an important cause of morbidity among children in developing regions and is frequently managed with empirical antimicrobial therapy. In the setting of evolving antimicrobial resistance and diagnostic limitations, describing real-world antibiotic prescribing practices in pediatric patients is essential. This study aimed to describe antibiotic prescribing patterns among hospitalized pediatric patients with clinically suspected enteric fever and to explore their distribution across clinical and laboratory parameters.
methodsA hospital-based retrospective observational study was conducted among 100 hospitalized pediatric patients (>2 years of age) clinically diagnosed with enteric fever. Demographic details, clinical features, vaccination status, laboratory parameters (hemoglobin, total leukocyte count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, platelet count, C-reactive protein, and Widal test results), and treatment details were extracted from medical records. Antibiotic utilization patterns involving injectable ceftriaxone, injectable ofloxacin, injectable amikacin, and oral doxycycline were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Associations between antibiotic use and selected clinical and laboratory variables were explored using the chi-square test, with a p-value ≤0.05 considered statistically significant.
resultsThe mean age of patients was 6.03±3.08 years, with a near-equal gender distribution. Fever was the most common presenting symptom (90%), followed by vomiting (45%) and abdominal pain (23%). Laboratory evaluation revealed mild anemia and elevated inflammatory markers in a proportion of patients. Injectable ceftriaxone was the most frequently prescribed antibiotic (83%), followed by oral doxycycline (27%), injectable ofloxacin (26%), and injectable amikacin (11%). Variations in antibiotic use were observed across different clinical features, laboratory parameters, and treatment intensity. Age did not show a statistically significant association with antibiotic selection.
conclusionThis study describes prevailing antibiotic prescribing patterns among hospitalized pediatric patients with clinically suspected enteric fever. Injectable ceftriaxone was the most commonly used empirical antibiotic, while other agents were prescribed selectively. The findings highlight existing prescribing trends in inpatient pediatric care and underscore the need for improved microbiological confirmation to better inform antibiotic selection in enteric fever.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.