Severe diarrheal illness in children linked to antibiotics prescribed in US doctor’s offices; study

The majority of pediatric Clostridium difficile infections, which are bacterial infections that cause severe diarrhea and are potentially life-threatening, occur among children in the general community who recently took antibiotics prescribed in doctor’s offices for other conditions, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published last week in Pediatrics.

The study showed that 71% of the cases of C. difficile infection identified among children aged one through 17 years were community-associated - that is, not associated with an overnight stay in a healthcare facility. By contrast, two-thirds of C. difficile infections in adults are associated with hospital stays.

Among the community-associated pediatric cases whose parents were interviewed, 73% were prescribed antibiotics during the 12 weeks prior to their illness, usually in an outpatient setting such as a doctor’s office. Most of the children who received antibiotics were being treated for ear, sinus, or upper respiratory infections. Previous studies show that at least 50% of antibiotics prescribed in doctor’s offices for children are for respiratory infections, most of which do not require antibiotics.