PITTSBURGH Study shows high resistance to antibiotics in region's kids

Antibiotics should not be used for colds, flu and most coughs and bronchitis.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Children in the region were twice as likely than the national average to be resistant to a common group of antibiotics given for sore throat, a study released last week found.
Bacterial samples taken from children in and around Pittsburgh in 2001 and 2002 were resistant to the commonly prescribed antibiotics known as macrolides -- azithromycin, erythromycin and clindamycin -- about 10 percent of the time, according Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh researchers.
The national rate of antibiotic resistance is between 5 percent and 6 percent.
Dr. Michael Green believes the results, which only involved resistance to a type of streptococcal bacteria, may indicate the rates across the country are much higher than originally thought.
The Pittsburgh study looked at antibiotic rates over the course of a season, and not just at one or two times during the season as in past studies.
"Not only did we find that Pittsburgh has a higher rate of resistance than the national average, but we found that the national average may be underestimated," Green said.
The study examined 708 bacteria samples taken from children.
After the first seven months of the study, 3.7 percent were resistant to the drugs.
That number rose to 9.6 percent after nine months and to 35 percent after the end of "sore throat season" in April and May 2002, the research found.
Significance of study
Green said doctors and health care workers can learn from this study, and from experiences from Japan where the resistance rate was successfully lowered.
"We can be cautious about how we use these medications. We can use them where they're indicated and use them for illnesses that deserve to be treated," Green said.
Illnesses caused by bacteria can be helped by antibiotics. But antibiotics should not be used for illnesses caused by viruses, such as colds, the flu, most coughs and bronchitis, and sore throats not resulting from strep throat.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the primary cause of antibiotic resistance is the overuse of the medication. This is of particular concern in children, who have the highest rates of antibiotic use, according to the CDC.
The results of the study are published in the February issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.