Antibiotics for treating community acquired pneumonia in people with sickle cell disease

Abstract

Background: As a consequence of their condition, people with sickle cell disease are at high risk of developing an acute infection of the pulmonary parenchyma called community-acquired pneumonia. Many different bacteria can cause this infection and antibiotic treatment is generally needed to resolve it. There is no standardized approach to antibiotic therapy and treatment is likely to vary from country to country. Thus, there is a need to identify the efficacy and safety of different antibiotic treatment approaches for people with sickle cell disease suffering from community-acquired pneumonia.

Objectives: To determine the efficacy and safety of the antibiotic treatment approaches (monotherapy or combined) for people with sickle cell disease suffering from community-acquired pneumonia.

Search strategy: We searched The Group's Haemoglobinopathies Trials Register (December 2005), which comprises references identified from comprehensive electronic database searches and handsearching of relevant journals and abstract books of conference proceedings. We also searched The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library (Issue 4, 2005), MEDLINE (1966 to December 5th, 2005), EMBASE (1974 to December 7th, 2005), and LILACS (1982 to December 2005). Date of most recent search: December 2005

Selection criteria: We searched for published or unpublished randomized controlled trials.

Data collection and analysis: We intended to summarise data by standard Cochrane Collaboration methodologies, but no eligible randomized controlled trials were identified.

Main results: We were unable to find any randomized controlled trials on antibiotic treatment approaches for community-acquired pneumonia in people with sickle cell disease.

Authors' conclusions: We were unable to identify randomized controlled trials on efficacy and safety of the antibiotic treatment approaches for people with sickle cell disease suffering from community-acquired pneumonia. Randomized controlled trials are needed to establish the optimum antibiotic treatment for this condition.