Should Antibiotic Use be Limited in Children? 10 Million Unnecessary Prescriptions Written Annually

The American Academy of Pediatrics (APA) in Collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report regarding the unnecessary use of antibiotics in children.

Previous studies have shown that as many as 10 million antibiotic prescriptions are written each year for infections that are unlikely to help or may lower the body's resistance to infection.

Despite these findings, recent evidence shows that prescriptions for broad-spectrum antibiotics have increased despite. This may include physicians treating the common cold, which is viral in nature, and usually persist for around 10 days, with antibiotics.

Researchers note that physicians treating such illnesses such be focused on relieving symptoms and not prescribing antibiotics.

The report particularly focuses on three of the most common pediatric upper respiratory infections: ear infections, sinus infections, and strep throat.

"This report is particularly timely as we enter the winter season, when many respiratory viruses commonly circulate," said Mary Anne Jackson, MD, FAAP, a member of the AAP Committee on the Infectious Diseases and the lead study author of the report, via a press release. "By using these principles, physicians will be able to more appropriately diagnose and treat otitis media sinusitis and strep pharyngitis."

A report from earlier this year gave physicians guidelines for diagnosing acute otitis media (middle ear infection) and bacterial sinusitis, which could help them determine whether or not antibiotics would work for patients. These new guidelines could also help medical experts determine the shortest-duration of antibiotic use for each individual situation.

"This is an important resource that provides guidance for clinicians, and will help in communication with families to make the best use of antibiotics," Jackson said. "Physicians and parents are increasingly aware of the risk of antibiotics and the impact on growing antibiotic resistance rates."

More information regarding the journal can be found via "Principles of Judicious Antibiotic Prescribing for Bacterial Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Pediatrics," via the journal Pediatrics.