Effect of Vitamin C on Length of Hospital Stay in Children With Severe Pneumonia

February 12, 2026 updated by: Muhammad Sulaman, Children's Hospital and Institute of Child Health, Multan

Efficacy of Vitamin C as an Adjunct to Standard Treatment in Severe Pneumonia in Children Under Five Years of Age: A Clinical Comparison

Severe pneumonia is a common and serious illness in young children and often requires hospital admission. This clinical trial aims to find out whether adding vitamin C to standard treatment can reduce the length of hospital stay in children under five years of age admitted with severe pneumonia.

The main question this study seeks to answer is:

Does giving vitamin C along with routine treatment help children with severe pneumonia recover faster and go home earlier compared to standard treatment alone?

In this study, 90 children aged 2 to 59 months who are admitted to the Children's Hospital Multan with severe pneumonia will take part. Severe pneumonia is defined by fast breathing, fever, cough, and one or more danger signs such as difficulty feeding, repeated vomiting, seizures, bluish discoloration of lips, or noisy breathing. Children with chronic lung disease or weakened immunity will not be included.

After parental consent, children will be randomly divided into two groups. One group will receive standard treatment only, which includes oxygen therapy and intravenous antibiotics according to hospital protocol. The second group will receive the same standard treatment plus a daily dose of vitamin C. Neither group will receive any experimental or unapproved therapy.

Researchers will closely monitor each child's recovery, including improvement in breathing rate, temperature, oxygen levels, and overall clinical condition. The child will be discharged when the treating physician determines that recovery criteria are met. The number of days spent in the hospital from the start of treatment until discharge will be recorded.

By comparing the average hospital stay between the two groups, this study aims to determine whether vitamin C is a useful and safe add-on treatment for severe pneumonia in young children. The findings may help improve care and reduce hospital stay for children with severe pneumonia in the future.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

90

Phase

  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Pakistan
    • Punjab Province
      • Multan Khurd, Punjab Province, Pakistan, 60000
        • Recruiting
        • Children Hospital and Institute of Child Health
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Muhammad S Principal Investigator, MBBS

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • presenting with severe pneumonia
  • ≤ 48-hours duration

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Congenital heart disease
  • Children with chronic respiratory illnesses i.e. Asthma, post tuberculosis bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis
  • Immunosuppressed i.e. primary immune deficiency, malignancy, on steroid therapy

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Standard care
Standard care alone
Drug: Antibiotics administration
Antibiotics Plus supportive care including oxygen inhalation, intravenous rehydration, and antipyretics
Experimental: Adjunct Vitamin C
Standard care plus vitamin C
Drug: Antibiotics administration
Antibiotics Plus supportive care including oxygen inhalation, intravenous rehydration, and antipyretics
Drug: Vitamin C
Standard care (oxygen inhalation, intravenous rehydration, and antipyretics) plus Vitamin C: 200-mg (2 cc = 4 dropper, should be mixed in milk or water) once a day
Other Names:
  • Ascorbic acid

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hospital Stay
Time Frame: From randomization to hospital discharge, assessed at discharge (up to 30 days).
Duration of Hospital Stay in days
From randomization to hospital discharge, assessed at discharge (up to 30 days).

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Children's Hospital and Institute of Child Health, Multan

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Ayesha F Assitant Professor, FCPS, Children Hospital and Institute of Child Health, Multan

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

August 28, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 27, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 27, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 4, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 12, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 17, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 17, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 12, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • U1111-1334-9511

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Pneumonia Childhood

Clinical Trials on Antibiotics administration

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Tunisia

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe