Overuse of antibiotics a growing – and dangerous – problem
New CDC guidelines limit antibiotics for common infections in children
The excessive and incorrect use of antibiotics in this country is responsible for approximately 23,000 deaths as year – a figure the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is trying to reduce.
The CDC estimates that as many as ten million children a year are prescribed antibiotics for upper respiratory conditions, many of which are caused by viruses, which are not helped by antibiotics.
“Many people have the misconception that since antibiotics are commonly used that they are harmless,” says Dr. Lauri Hicks, coauthor of a new report and medical director of the CDC’s Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work program. “Taking antibiotics when you have a virus can do more harm than good.”
These harms can be in the form of antibiotic side effects or promoting the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can then spread through a community.