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Table 3 Search strategy for clinical questions for pneumonia

From: Experience developing national evidence-based clinical guidelines for childhood pneumonia in a low-income setting - making the GRADE?

We searched PubMed and the Cochrane Library. Both free text and MeSH terms were used in the PubMed search as shown below.

Search strategy: pneumonia AND (child* OR paediatric OR pediatric) AND (antibiotic OR co-trimoxazole OR cotrimoxazole OR sulfamethoxazole OR sulphamethoxazole OR penicillin OR amoxicillin OR amoxycillin OR cephalosporin OR ceftriaxone OR gentamicin OR chloramphenicol OR quinolone* OR levofloxacin OR macrolide* OR erythromycin).

Systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials relevant our questions of interest were reviewed. Where none were available, observational studies were considered. The search was not limited by date or language. In addition, bibliographies of eligible articles were screened for additional reports warranting inclusion. Abstracts for all retrieved articles were read and the full text articles for those addressing the policy question of interest selected. Searches around the 3 broad policy questions were conducted in February 2010 and the results reviewed independently by A.A. and M.E. We then summarized the evidence from the retrieved literature for each policy question in the form of mini-reviews and key finding summaries (all available at http://www.idoc-africa.org).