Children suffering from asthma are unnecessarily prescribed antibiotics for treatment even though guidelines do not support this, new research shows.<\/p>\n
Asthma is a chronic lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways in the lungs. Symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath and chest tightness.<\/p>\n
The findings showed that asthma symptoms are often mistaken for a respiratory tract infection and are given antibiotics as a preventative measure.<\/p>\n
Overuse of antibiotics in children can lead to drug-resistant infections, as well as leave kids at high risk of a future infection that is difficult to treat, the researchers warned.<\/p>\n
\u201cInternational and national guidelines clearly state that antibiotics should not be given for a deterioration in asthma symptoms because this is rarely associated with a bacterial infection,\u201d said Esme Baan from the Erasmus University, in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
\u201cInappropriate use of antibiotics can be bad for individual patients and the entire population, and makes it harder to control the spread of untreatable infections.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers found that children with asthma were approximately 1.6 times more likely to be prescribed antibiotics, compared to children who do not have asthma.<\/p>\n
\u201cAntibiotics should only be given when there is clear evidence of a bacterial infection such as for pneumonia,\u201d Baan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, we saw that, in children with asthma, most of the antibiotic prescriptions in children were intended for asthma exacerbations or bronchitis, which are often caused by a virus rather than bacteria.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the study, presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress 2017 in Italy, the team included 1.5 million children from the UK, including around 150,000 with asthma, and a further 375,000 from The Netherlands, including around 30,000 with asthma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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