2 in 3 Babies Had Antibiotics by First Birthday

[pautrey2]

2 in 3 Babies Had Antibiotics
by First Birthday


LONDON (Reuters Health) - Two out of three infants have been given
antibiotics by the time they reach their first birthday, according to
new research from Scotland.
The figure jumps to three-quarters of all children by the age of two,
report researchers from the University of Dundee and the University of
St. Andrews.
The findings, published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy,
shed light on the spread of antibiotic resistance by revealing that
children from economically deprived backgrounds are much more likely
to be prescribed the medicines than those from more affluent families.
"Most of the children in our cohort were exposed to anti-bacterials
very rapidly after birth," reported the researchers, led by Dr. Peter
Davey from the Medicines Monitoring Unit at the University of Dundee.
Boys were exposed to antibacterials earlier than girls, they found.
Resistance to common antibiotics has been a major concern for National
Health Service hospitals in the UK in recent years.
Earlier this month, the Public Health Laboratory Service--which
gathers data on infectious diseases--reported a rise in the number of
deaths due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the so-
called hospital superbug that is resistant to most antibiotics.
However, it remains unclear whether exposure to the drugs early in
life is an important factor in the development of resistance.
The Dundee researchers wanted to assess how soon in life young
children come into contact with antibiotics and to investigate
patterns of resistance among patients aged from zero to 40 who had
given urine samples at the hospital.
They studied records for all children born in Tayside--a large area in
eastern Scotland--during 1993 to see how many had needed treatment for
infections in the two years following their birth.
The results showed 63% had needed antibiotics by the age of one and
75% by the age of two.
Sixty-seven percent of boys were exposed in their first year, compared
to 60% of girls. Children from poorer areas were significantly more
likely to be treated earlier than those from less deprived
backgrounds.
Davey and his colleagues said in a report on their findings that this
contradicted earlier research.
"Two previous studies reported that children from affluent areas were
more likely to be exposed to antibacterials than children from
deprived areas. However, both these studies measured total exposure--
for example, the number of prescriptions per 1,000 inhabitants--rather
than time to first exposure."
They said deprivation might be a factor because it is associated with
higher rates of respiratory illness due to over-crowding, smoking and
lower levels of breast-feeding.
But tests on urine samples showed resistance acquired through exposure
to drugs does not necessarily remain constant as the children get
older.
"Resistance increased with age up to six years, then declined with age
until 20 years, then increased with age," the researchers said.
"Antibacterial exposure was highest in the first two years of life and
decreased steadily thereafter."
SOURCE: Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2002;50:1085-1088.

Reference Source 89



http://preventdisease.com/news/articles/babies_antibiotics_by_first_birthday.shtml