Antibiotic resistance is high in children with urinary tract infections, and it’s so common that antibiotics may be ineffective as first-line treatments, a new study has found.
The study – published in The BMJ – found that there was a high prevalence of resistance globally in children’s UTIs caused by E coli (which is responsible for 80% of cases).
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In the UK, half of all samples were resistant to ampicillin (amoxicillin), a third to co-trimoxazole, and a quarter to trimethoprim.
Moreover, Dr Céire Costelloe, from Imperial College London, co-led the research and pointed out that “the results also suggest previous antibiotic use increased the subsequent risk of E coli resistance to that particular antibiotic – for up to six months after treatment.”
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Primary care clinicians will probably need to get used to taking an “antibiotic history” before prescribing for common bacterial infections, the report of the research stated.
It read: “A parent’s claim that ‘antibiotic x always works for my child’ might need to be balanced with the notion that ‘if antibiotic x was used in the last six months, there’s a good chance that it’s not going to work as well if used again.’”
The researchers are calling on clinical guidelines to be reviewed, stating: “as a result [of the research], many guidelines, such as those published by NICE, might need updating”.
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See the full report here
