Short-course antibiotic therapy for pneumonia in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Objective: To determine the adherence and safety outcomes of a 5-day antibiotic course with a "time-out" for treatment of "blood culture-negative" pneumonia in the NICU.

Study Design: Prospective surveillance of all infants diagnosed with pneumonia at 7 NICUs from 8/2020-12/2021. Safety outcomes were defined a priori by re-initiation of antibiotic therapy within 14 days after discontinuation and overall and sepsis-related mortality.