Over-Prescribed Antibiotics Can be Dangerous to Kids: From "Sham vs. Wham: The Health Insider"

Headline: Antibiotic Use in Children Can Be Dangerous if Over-
Prescribed (Google the site "Sham vs. Wham: The Health Insider" for
more info and links on subject)

--

Recent research shows that the over-prescription of antibiotics for
children can actually lead to resistant infections. Antibiotic-
resistant bacteria are becoming more and more of a problem worldwide,
and the practice of daily, prophylactic antibiotic use may be behind
the problem in small children.

As an example, urinary tract infections (UTI's) are extremely common
in children. The use of prophylactic antibiotics for this condition,
which involves daily administration of antibiotics after an initial
infection, is associated with an increased risk of resistant
infections, according to a study in the July 11 issue of JAMA. Here is
more detail from this research:

Estimates of cumulative incidence of UTI in children younger than
6 years (3 percent - 7 percent in girls, 1 percent - 2 percent in
boys) suggest that 70,000 to 180,000 of the annual U.S. birth cohort
will have experienced a UTI by age 6. Daily antibiotic treatment is
recommended in an attempt to destroy or suppress the growth of
microorganisms present in recurrent UTIs.

Patrick H. Conway, M.D., M.Sc., of the University of Pennsylvania
Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, Philadelphia, and
colleagues conducted a study to identify risk factors for recurrent
UTI and estimate the effectiveness and possibility of resistance of
antimicrobials in preventing recurrent UTI. Patients in the study were
from a Children's Hospital of Philadelphia supported network of 27
primary care pediatric practices in urban, suburban, and semi-rural
areas spanning three states, with children ages birth through 6 years,
who were diagnosed with first UTI between July 2001 and May 2006.

Among 74,974 children in the network, 611 had a first UTI and 83
had a recurrent UTI. The researchers found that exposure to
prophylactic antibiotics significantly increased the likelihood of
resistant infections (7.5 times increased risk).

"Given ... previous findings and the unfavorable risk/benefit ratio
demonstrated by the current study, we think it is prudent for
clinicians to discuss the risks and unclear benefits of prophylaxis
with families as they make family-centered decisions about whether to
start prophylactic [antibiotics] or to closely monitor a child without
prescribing [antibiotic] prophylaxis after a first UTI," the authors
write.

Many scientists believe it is critical that we learn to live with less
indiscriminate use of antibiotics, as the issue of resistant bacteria
is real and can cause huge complications to society down the road. An
article from the FDA which explains the process of antibiotic
resistance in bacteria is linked to the headline of today's post.

D.