RT Journal
A1 Warren MD, Arbogast PG, Dudley JA, et al
T1 ADherence to prophylactic antibiotic guidelines among medicaid infants with sickle cell disease
JF Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
JO Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
YR 2010
FD March 1
VO 164
IS 3
SP 298
OP 299
DO 10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.286
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.286
AB 
Infants with sickle cell disease have as much as a 100-fold increased rate of pneumococcal infection compared with the general population.1 Penicillin prophylaxis has been shown to reduce the risk of pneumococcal sepsis by 84%.2 Thus, sickle cell management guidelines include twice daily penicillin doses for infants and young children.3 While studies have described low rates of adherence to prophylactic antibiotic guidelines in older children, little is known about the initiation of prophylactic antibiotics in early infancy, a period of great vulnerability.4 We describe adherence to guidelines for initiation of prophylactic antibiotics in a cohort of Medicaid infants with sickle cell disease in Tennessee and examine risk factors for nonadherence.