State’s drug soaked tots

Warning on antibiotic overuse “The high rate of antibiotic exposure is of concern given increasing antimicrobial resistance.”

HALF of Victorian babies have been given at least one dose of antibiotics before their first birthday, one of the highest prescribing rates in the world.

Superbugs, viruses that become resistant to medications, have raised concerns about excessive use of medication.

The Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and Barwon Health and Deakin University study found one-fifth of drugs given to the 660 children in the study were for respiratory tract infections and bronchiolitis.

“A significant proportion of antibiotics appear to be prescribed for viral infections, which do not respond to antibiotics,” lead author MCRI Professor David Burgner added.

“On average, babies suffer about eight viral illnesses a year, so they are really very common.”

Concerns were also raised that antibiotics were being prescribed for ear infections, when research shows it’s often not necessary.

Also of interest to medical researchers is the potential changes antibiotic use causes in the gut microbiome, potentially increasing the risk of chronic non-infectious diseases.

“The high rate of antibiotic exposure is of concern given increasing antimicrobial resistance and putative association with chronic diseases, including asthma and childhood obesity,” Prof Burgner wrote in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Researchers used data on medication and infections from interviews with parents and GPs and hospital records from the Barwon Infant study.

The more siblings a child had the more likely they were to receive antibiotics.

Overall the rate of prescribing was higher than almost all comparable countries and it had increased by 230 per cent in the past decade.

Deakin University’s Professor Peter Vuillermin said GPs should not be blamed for the situation, particularly given the highest rates were in newborn babies who were in hospital.

“People need to see the grey here, it’s not about GPs not understanding viruses don’t respond to antibiotics, it’s about them being supported to manage the risk of it being something more severe,” he said.

Serious bacterial infections had become increasingly rare, Prof Vuillermin said, but when they did occur the effects were devastating.

Interventions were needed to support GPs and parents manage these illnesses and cut back on antibiotics.