US pediatricians prescribe antibiotics to children twice as often as needed to treat ear, nose and throat infections.

These are the findings of a new study from the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital..

According to researchers, every year in the United States, doctors write about 11,000,000 prescriptions for antibiotics to children and adolescents, which may not be needed at all..

Over-prescribing antibiotics is not only useless for viral infections, it also helps pathogens evolve into dangerous resistant superbugs..

“I think we are all well aware that we prescribe antibiotics too often, but I would like to know how often. As we found out, over the past decade the situation has really changed a lot.. And we don't have real-world tools available to distinguish between bacterial and viral infections,” said study author Dr. Matthew Kronman, professor of infectious diseases at Seattle Children's Hospital..

The results of this study were published earlier this week in the American journal Pediatrics..

Antibiotics, drugs that kill bacteria and interfere with their reproduction, are effective against bacterial infections, but not against viral ones.. And since doctors have very little ability to distinguish between viral and bacterial infections, antibiotics are often prescribed without benefit..

To determine the numbers behind this, Dr. Kronman and his colleagues analyzed a series of studies published in English from 2000 to 2011 and data from medical records of children under 18 who were seen by doctors in American clinics..

Based on data on the proportion of bacterial infections of the ear and throat, as well as data on the use of the pneumococcal vaccine, which prevents many bacterial infections, scientists concluded that only 27% of childhood infections of the ear, throat and nose in the United States are caused by bacteria.. But at the same time, antibiotics are prescribed by pediatricians in about 57% of cases of such infections..

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Dr. Newland, former director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Mercy Children's Hospital, says a 2013 report issued by the US CDC indicated that 23,000 Americans die every year from antibiotic-resistant infections..

“Every time we prescribe antibiotics, we increase the chance of bacterial resistance developing.. We shouldn't use them so often.. There are better treatments,” says Newland..

A rapid streptococcus test is already being used in the United States today to distinguish bacterial infections from viral ones.. But besides him, American doctors have no other clinical tools that would allow them to identify the cause of most respiratory infections.. Dr. Kronman says science needs to equip doctors with such tools and make them more critical of antibiotic use..

medbe. en.