Determinants of antibiotic prescription in children with adenovirus respiratory tract infections

We performed this study to evaluate factors associated with antibiotic prescriptions in children with adenovirus infection, since no studies have attempted to address this aspect in the pediatric population. Retrospective study of children younger than 18 years of age tested positive for adenovirus on a syndromic nasopharyngeal test from 2018 to 2023. We compared the need of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), invasive ventilation, and other respiratory support, viral etiologies, clinical presentations, imaging, and laboratory results in the precovid (2018–2019) and covid (2020–2022) period. The use of antibiotics was studied with multivariable logistic regression including demographic as well as clinical data as covariates. Two hundred fifty-eight patients were enrolled. One hundred fifty-eight patients received an antibiotic (mean duration 6.2 (±2.7) days (median 4; IQR: 4–7)). Presence of seizures and C-reactive protein values as predictors for antibiotic prescription (OR for seizures: 12.17; 95% CI: 1.42–103.91; p = 0.022; OR for CrP: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.01–1.04; p = 0.001). Seventy-four patients received intravenous antibiotics (74/156, 47.4%). Risk factors for intravenous antibiotic were the presence of decay (OR: 3.74; 95% CI: 1.25–11.71; p = 0.018), CrP values (OR: 1.02; 95% CI: 1.00–1.03; p = 0.001), and presence of seizures (OR: 16.34; 95% CI: 2.65–100.83; p = 0.003). Duration of intravenous antibiotics correlated with the presence of seizures (Coeff: 1.6; 95% CI: 0.41–2.89; p = 0.009) even when adjusted for CrP values.

    Conclusion: The clinical presentation of adenovirus infection in children is non-specific, leading to frequent antibiotic prescription despite bacterial co-infections was rare. Higher CrP values and presenting with seizures are significantly associated with a higher risk of receiving antibiotics. Rapid microbiological tests and newer biomarkers can help clinicians to improve antibiotic prescription in this cohort of children.