CDC Links Severe Diarrhea in Children to Antibiotics Prescribed by Doctors

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention links severe diarrhea in children to the antibiotics prescribed in doctor's offices.

With the release of the new report, the U.S. health institute urges the physicians to improve the practice of prescribing antibiotics as they found that a majority of the Clostridium difficile (C.dificile) infections that trigger diarrhea and which is life threatening, is diagnosed among  children in the general community, who received antibiotics prescribed at the doctor's offices for other health conditions.

"Improved antibiotic prescribing is critical to protect the health of our nation's children," said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., in a news release.  "When antibiotics are prescribed incorrectly, our children are needlessly put at risk for health problems including C. difficile infection and dangerous antibiotic resistant infections."

The study researchers noticed that nearly 71 percent cases of C.difficile infection occurred in children aged 1-17 who were community associated (not linked with overnight stay in healthcare facilities).

The researchers interviewed the parents of the community associated infected children. It was seen that nearly 73 percent of the children were prescribed antibiotics during the 12 weeks before their illness, mostly in an outpatient setting.  Those who received antibiotics were mostly treated for other conditions such as ear, upper respiratory infection or sinus.

Studies done earlier revealed that nearly 50 percent of the antibiotics prescribed in the doctor's office were for children suffering from upper respiratory infections.

The CDC initiative plans to lower the prescription of antibiotics to outpatients by nearly 20 percent, which would bring down C.difficile infections by 50 percent in five years. This would mean saving the lives of 20,000 and avoiding 150,000 hospitalizations.

C.difficile  causes 250,000 infections in hospitalized patients and 14,000 deaths among both children and adult. The CDC reports show that nearly 17,000 children age 1-17 get infection every year. A higher rate of infection was seen in whites children of ages 12-23 months.

"As both a doctor and a mom, I know how difficult it is to see your child suffer with something like an ear infection," Lauri Hicks, DO, director of CDC's Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work program, said in the news release. "Antibiotics aren't always the answer. I urge parents to work with their child's doctor to find the best treatment for the illness, which may just be providing symptom relief."