Short-course antibiotics for common infections: what do we know and where do we go from here?

Background: Over the past 25 years, researchers have performed >120 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) illustrating short courses to be non-inferior to long courses of antibiotics for common bacterial infections.

Objective: We sought to determine whether clinical data from RCTs affirm the mantra of 'shorter is better' for antibiotic durations in 7 common infections: pneumonia, urinary tract infection, intra-abdominal infection, bacteraemia, skin and soft tissue infection, bone and joint infections, pharyngitis and sinusitis.

Sources: Published RCTs comparing short- versus long-course antibiotic durations were identified through searches of PubMed and clinical guideline documents.