New Study Suggests Commonly Prescribed Antibiotic is Incorrectly Used for Children
Improvements needed in prescribing azithromycin
A CDC study recently released in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal found azithromycin, a commonly prescribed antibiotic in children, is likely misused in many cases. The study also found that when antibiotics were prescribed family practitioners were more likely to choose azithromycin than pediatricians.
Amoxicillin, a recommended first-line antibiotic for common illnesses in children, including otitis media, sinusitis, and pharyngitis, was the most commonly prescribed antibiotic, followed by azithromycin. This pattern of prescribing is concerning for two reasons:
- Azithromycin is not a recommended treatment for these common pediatric infections with few exceptions, and
- The misuse of azithromycin leads to antibiotic resistance.
Researchers calculated the number of oral antibiotic prescriptions in children. In 2013, children younger than 19 were prescribed 66.8 million antibiotics. 35% of these prescriptions were for amoxicillin and 18% were for azithromycin.
CDC’s Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship can help prescribers improve antibiotic selection and reduce overuse of antibiotics in children.
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