Physicians' responsibility for antibiotic use in infants from periurban Lima, Peru Responsabilidad del médico en el uso de antibióticos en niños menores de 1 año de zonas periurbanas de Lima, Perú

• Main Authors: Lucie Ecker, Liset Olarte, Gustavo Vilchez, Theresa J. Ochoa, Isabel Amemiya, Ana I. Gil, Claudio F. Lanata
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2011
• Subjects: Agentes antibacterianos; lactante; resistencia a medicamentos; prescripción inadecuada; Perú; Anti-bacterial agents; infant; drug resistance; microbial; inappropriate prescribing; Peru; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/360d805e76f6435da440bcb20ec1bf3c

OBJECTIVE: To describe the use of antibiotics in Peruvian children under 1 year in a setting where they are available without a prescription. METHODS: Data were analyzed from a cohort study between September 2006 and December 2007 of 1 023 children < 2 months old in periurban Lima, Peru, followed until they were 1 year old. RESULTS: Seven hundred seventy of 1 023 (75.3%) children took 2 085 courses of antibiotics. There were two courses per child per year (range 0-12). Higher rates of antibiotic use were found in children 3-6 months old (37.2%). Antibiotics were given to children for 8.2% of common colds, 58.6% of all pharyngitis, 66.0% of bronchitis, 40.7% of diarrheas, 22.8% of dermatitis, and 12.0% of bronchial obstructions. A physician's prescription was the most common reason for antibiotic use (90.8%). Medication use without a prescription was found in 6.9% of children, and in 63.9% of them it was preceded by a physician's prescription. CONCLUSIONS: Infants are often exposed to antibiotics in this setting. Overuse of antibiotics is common for diagnoses such as pharyngitis, bronchitis, bronchial obstruction, and diarrhea but is typically inappropriate (83.1% of courses) based on the most common etiologies for this age group. Interventions to improve the use of antibiotics should focus on physicians, since a physician's prescription was the most common reason for antibiotic use. OBJETIVO: Describir el uso de antibióticos en niños de 2 a 12 meses de edad en entornos donde estos medicamentos se pueden obtener sin prescripción. MÉTODOS: Se analizaron los datos de un estudio de cohorte efectuado entre septiembre del 2006 y diciembre del 2007 en 1 023 niños menores de 2 meses de la zona periurbana de Lima, Perú, cuyo seguimiento se realizó hasta el año de edad. RESULTADOS: De los 1 023 niños, 770 (75,3%) tomaron 2 085 tandas de tratamiento antibiótico. Se registraron dos tandas por niño por año (rango 0-12). Las tasas más elevadas de uso de antibióticos se encontraron en los niños de 3 a 6 meses (37,2%). Los ...