Antibiotics causing fatal diarrhea in children

Antibiotics causing fatal diarrhea in children

Newly published research from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that doctor-prescribed antibiotics could be contributing to bouts of fatal diarrhea in children.

Scientists found that the majority of pediatric Clostridium difficile infections took place following a round of antibiotics, according to the agency. The infections led to severe bouts of diarrhea, some of which can prove to be fatal.

The CDC found that 71 percent of cases of C. difficile in kids between 1 and 17 years old were not related to an overnight stay in a hospital or healthcare facility. Alternately, the research found that two-thirds of adult infections were indeed linked to hospital stays.

As reported by Medical News Today:

The average human gut is home to over a thousand species of microbe. Kept in the right balance, these micro-organisms do no harm and the "friendly" ones even help with vital processes like digestion and protecting the gut.

But if the balance of these microbe populations is upset - by taking antibiotics, for example - there is a risk of losing vital protection from the beneficial bacteria. This allows C. difficile to grow out of control and release toxins that attack and inflame the lining of the gut, causing colitis.

Plain and simple, antibiotics are being over-prescribed

Among the "community-associated" C. difficile cases in children, 73 percent had been prescribed antibiotics at least 12 weeks before contracting an infection, the CDC said. They were most often prescribed them by a doctor or outpatient facility. The agency also said that in most cases the children were being treated for "wear, sinus, or upper respiratory infections."

"Improved antibiotic prescribing is critical to protect the health of our nation's children," said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. "When antibiotics are prescribed incorrectly, our children are needlessly put at risk for health problems including C. difficile infection and dangerous antibiotic resistant infections." Read more