Antibiotics for common childhood infections are no longer effective

Antibiotics to treat common infections in children and infants are no longer effective in many parts of the world due to high rates of antibiotic resistance, a University of Sydney-led study published in the Lancet South East Asia journal has found.

The study found that many antibiotics recommended by the World Health Organization were less than 50% effective in treating childhood infections such as pneumonia, sepsis (blood stream infections) and meningitis. The findings show that global guidelines for antibiotic use are outdated and in need of updating.

The worst-affected areas are in south-east Asia and the Pacific, including Indonesia and the Philippines, where antibiotic resistance causes thousands of needless child deaths each year.

In fact, the study found that one particular antibiotic, ceftriaxone, is likely to be effective in treating only one in three cases of sepsis or meningitis in newborn babies. Ceftriaxone is also widely used in Australia to treat many infections in children, such as pneumonia and urinary tract infections. Another antibiotic, gentamicin, has been found to be likely effective in treating less than half of the cases of sepsis and meningitis in children.

The World Health Organization has declared antimicrobial resistance to be one of the ten greatest global public health threats facing humanity. In newborns, an estimated three million cases of sepsis occur worldwide each year with up to 570.000 deaths, in many cases due to the lack of effective antibiotics to treat resistant bacteria.

Lead study author Phoebe Williams, from the University of Sydney's School of Public Health and the Institute of Infectious Diseases, an infectious disease specialist, says the best way to tackle antibiotic resistance in childhood infections is to make it a priority funding to investigate new antibiotic treatments for children and newborns.

Source: RES-EAP