- Knowledgebase: Antibiotic Information and Questions
- Questions about types of antibiotics, when to use them, and side-effects of using them.
- 9. PARENTS: DON'T PUSH FOR ANTIBIOTICS - Top
- PARENTS: DON'T PUSH FOR ANTIBIOTICS.(Brief Article)
Better Homes and Gardens
Issue: April, 2000
Parents are asking pediatricians for antibiotics when they aren't needed, and some doctors are prescribing them anyway.
Sixty-seven percent of 1,000 pediatricians surveyed said parents had made the request in the previous month and 40 percent said that it had happened 10 or more times that month. One-third of the doctors admitted that they often complied with the request. The survey was reported in the journal Pediatrics.
Unnecessary antibiotics can be harmful. Antibiotics are only effective against bacterial infections, but have been prescribed to treat viral infections on which the drug has no effect. As a result, new strains of bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends letting your doctor make the call. It's a tricky one to make. For example, most ear infections require an antibiotic, but some don't. Children rarely need antibiotics for bronchitis, and the only sore throat requiring an antibiotic is strep throat.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Meredith Corporation
- Updated: May 19, 2001
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