This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows:

Primary objective
(1) Determine the equivalence in effectiveness and safety of oral antibiotic and the parenteral antibiotic therapies in the treatment of severe pneumonia in children between three months and five years (59 months old).

Secondary objectives
(1) Describe the proportion of children with severe pneumonia that fail to recover or clinically deteriorate with oral antibiotic therapy compared to parenteral antibiotic therapy.
(2) Determine the relative risk of side effects and deaths with oral antibiotic therapy compared to parenteral antibiotic therapy.
(3) Determine the mean time for recovery with oral antibiotic therapy compared to parenteral antibiotic therapy.
(4) Determine the mean days of hospitalisation with oral antibiotic therapy compared to parenteral antibiotic therapy.
(5) Describe the costs associated with oral antibiotic therapy compared to parenteral antibiotic therapy.