From: mha23x@gmail.com   
      
   2 in 3 Babies Had Antibiotics   
   by First Birthday    
      
      
   LONDON (Reuters Health) - Two out of three infants have been given antibiotics   
   by the time they reach their first birthday, according to new research from   
   Scotland.   
      
   The figure jumps to three-quarters of all children by the age of two, report   
   researchers from the University of Dundee and the University of St. Andrews.   
      
   The findings, published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, shed   
   light on the spread of antibiotic resistance by revealing that children from   
   economically deprived backgrounds are much more likely to be prescribed the   
   medicines than those from    
   more affluent families.   
      
   "Most of the children in our cohort were exposed to anti-bacterials very   
   rapidly after birth," reported the researchers, led by Dr. Peter Davey from   
   the Medicines Monitoring Unit at the University of Dundee.   
      
   Boys were exposed to antibacterials earlier than girls, they found.   
      
   Resistance to common antibiotics has been a major concern for National Health   
   Service hospitals in the UK in recent years.   
      
   Earlier this month, the Public Health Laboratory Service--which gathers data   
   on infectious diseases--reported a rise in the number of deaths due to   
   methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the so-called hospital superbug   
   that is resistant to most    
   antibiotics.   
      
   However, it remains unclear whether exposure to the drugs early in life is an   
   important factor in the development of resistance.   
      
   The Dundee researchers wanted to assess how soon in life young children come   
   into contact with antibiotics and to investigate patterns of resistance among   
   patients aged from zero to 40 who had given urine samples at the hospital.   
      
   They studied records for all children born in Tayside--a large area in eastern   
   Scotland--during 1993 to see how many had needed treatment for infections in   
   the two years following their birth.   
      
   The results showed 63% had needed antibiotics by the age of one and 75% by the   
   age of two.   
      
   Sixty-seven percent of boys were exposed in their first year, compared to 60%   
   of girls. Children from poorer areas were significantly more likely to be   
   treated earlier than those from less deprived backgrounds.   
      
   Davey and his colleagues said in a report on their findings that this   
   contradicted earlier research.   
      
   "Two previous studies reported that children from affluent areas were more   
   likely to be exposed to antibacterials than children from deprived areas.   
   However, both these studies measured total exposure--for example, the number   
   of prescriptions per 1,000    
   inhabitants--rather than time to first exposure."   
      
   They said deprivation might be a factor because it is associated with higher   
   rates of respiratory illness due to over-crowding, smoking and lower levels of   
   breast-feeding.   
      
   But tests on urine samples showed resistance acquired through exposure to   
   drugs does not necessarily remain constant as the children get older.   
      
   "Resistance increased with age up to six years, then declined with age until   
   20 years, then increased with age," the researchers said.   
      
   "Antibacterial exposure was highest in the first two years of life and   
   decreased steadily thereafter."   
      
   SOURCE: Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2002;50:1085-1088.   
      
      
      
   Reference Source 89    
      
      
      
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