Reduce Giving Antibiotics to Children


Inappropriate use of antibiotics can make germs become resistant or resistant. Therefore the experts recommend to reduce antibiotic prescriptions in children.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that since the 1990's there has been a decline of 10 percent for prescribing antibiotics to children aged 14 years or less.

Currently antibiotics are often used but does not work properly to fight viruses such as colds and flu. This is because antibiotics used to fight infections caused by bacteria, this misuse can lead to antibiotic resistance.

The experts expressed from time to time a lot of doctors prescribe antibiotics. CDC found doctors often prescribe antibiotics for sore throat, runny nose and some other upper respiratory infections caused by viruses.

"Doctors still prescribe antibiotics too often, so there is still a long way to overcome this," says Dr. Lauri Hicks, an epidemiologist at the CDC, as quoted by FoxNews, Monday (09/05/2011).

Sometimes problems arise due to pressure from parents who want their children to be given antibiotics. Parents who see their children sick midnight screaming expect doctors to give antibiotics to cure her son.

"In this new era of consumerism, they will not stop at 1 doker and will go elsewhere to get what they want," said Dr. Kenneth Bromberg, chairman of pediatrics from the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York.

Children are often given antibiotics when having cough and cold, became sick more often. Generally, children have a cough runny nose 4-5 times a year, but if given the antibiotic could be 10 times a year.

For that parents also should be more careful in giving the drug to the baby, and if your child has a cough runny nose should not be given antibiotics. And improvements in rapid diagnostic tests that can help doctors determine whether the disease is caused by bacteria or viruses.