Rivera-Sepúlveda, Andrea

Background: Acute otitis media (AOM) is among the most common pediatric infections and a leading indication for antibiotic prescribing. Although current guidelines recommend 5 to 7 days of therapy for children 2 to 5 years of age with uncomplicated AOM, variation in antibiotic duration remains common. We evaluated whether a 5-day antibiotic course was associated with similar short-term outcomes compared with a 7-day course. Methods: We conducted a retrospective multicenter cohort study using electronic health record data from 44 pediatric emergency departments, urgent care centers, and primary care practices within an integrated health care system. Children 2 to 5 years of age with uncomplicated AOM treated with a single oral antibiotic during 2022 were included. The primary analysis compared children prescribed 5 versus 7 days of therapy. Treatment failure was defined as an AOM-related return encounter requiring a new systemic antibiotic prescription within 7 days after completion of therapy (EOT+7). Secondary analyses evaluated outcomes by antibiotic class and prespecified sensitivity analyses. Results: The final analytic cohort included 7528 children; 906 received 5-day therapy, and 1799 received 7-day therapy. Treatment failure occurred in 0.44% and 0.61%, respectively (absolute risk difference: −0.17%; 95% CI: −0.73 to 0.39; risk ratio: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.23-2.26). Findings were consistent across antibiotic-specific and sensitivity analyses. Conclusions: Among children 2 to 5 years of age with uncomplicated AOM, a 5-day antibiotic course was not associated with an increased risk of short-term treatment failure compared with a 7-day course, supporting guideline-concordant prescribing and outpatient antimicrobial stewardship.

BACKGROUND High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy is widely used in infants hospitalized with moderate-to-severe bronchiolitis. Although bronchiolitis severity has been consistently associated with later asthma, it remains unclear whether HFNC contributes additional risk or instead represents a marker of severe illness. We examined the relationship between HFNC use during bronchiolitis hospitalization and the subsequent hazard of asthma diagnosis in early childhood. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 4736 children aged younger than 2 years hospitalized with bronchiolitis from 2015 to 2023 across 2 tertiary children’s hospitals. Children were stratified by HFNC exposure. Cox proportional hazards models evaluated the association between HFNC use and subsequent asthma diagnosis. Secondary analyses assessed HFNC duration and frequency. RESULTS Forty-three percent of children received HFNC. Asthma was subsequently diagnosed in 37% of HFNC-treated children and 22% of non-HFNC children (P < .001). After adjustment for demographic and clinical variables, HFNC use was associated with a 40% increased hazard of subsequent asthma diagnosis (hazard ratio, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.24–1.57; P < .001). No dose-response pattern was observed by HFNC duration or frequency. CONCLUSION HFNC use was associated with an increased hazard of subsequent diagnosis of asthma in childhood, likely reflecting underlying disease severity rather than a treatment-related effect. Prospective studies are needed to differentiate severity-related risk from treatment-associated factors to optimize respiratory support strategies for infants with bronchiolitis.