Journal
WORLD JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS
Volume 14, Issue 4, Pages 335-343Publisher
ZHEJIANG UNIV SCH MEDICINE
DOI: 10.1007/s12519-018-0176-0
Keywords
Antibiotic; Children; China; Neonate; Prescription
Categories
Funding
- Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen [SZSM201512030]
- Shenzhen Healthcare Research Project [SZLY2018016]
- PENTA Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
BackgroundChildren as a population have high antimicrobial prescribing rates which may lead to high resistance of bacteria according to data from some single-center surveys of antibiotic prescribing rates in China. The acquirement of baseline data of antibiotic prescribing is the basis of developing intervention strategies on inappropriate antimicrobial prescriptions. Few studies show clearly the pattern and detailed information on classes of antibiotics and distribution of indications of antibiotic prescriptions in children in China. This study aims to assess the antibiotic prescribing patterns among children and neonates hospitalized in 18 hospitals in China.MethodsA 24-hour point prevalence survey on antimicrobial prescribing was conducted in hospitalized neonates and children in China from December 1st, 2016 to February 28th, 2017. Information on the antibiotic use of patients under 18years of age who were administered one or more on-going antibiotics in the selected wards over a 24-hour period was collected. These data were submitted to the GARPEC (Global Antimicrobial Resistance, Prescribing and Efficacy in Children and Neonates) web-based application (https://pidrg-database.sgul.ac.uk/redcap/). For statistical analysis, Microsoft Excel 2007 and SPSS 22.0 were used.ResultsThe antibiotic data were collected in 35 wards in 18 hospitals from 9 provinces. In total, 67.76% (975/1439) of the patients (n=1439) were given at least one antibiotic, including 58.1% (173/298) of neonates (n=298) and 70.3% (802/1141) of children (n=1141). In neonates, the three most frequently prescribed antibiotics were third-generation cephalosporins (41.7%), penicillins plus enzyme inhibitor (23.8%), and carbapenems (11.2%). In children, the three most frequently prescribed antibiotics were third-generation cephalosporins (35.5%), macrolides (23.2%), and penicillins plus enzyme inhibitors (15.9%). The most common indication for antibiotics was proven or probable bacterial lower respiratory tract infection (30.9% in neonates and 66.6% in children).ConclusionsAntibiotics are commonly prescribed in the Chinese children population. It is likely that the third-generation cephalosporins and macrolides are currently overused in Chinese children. Efforts must be made to ensure safe and appropriate antibiotic prescribing to reduce and prevent the future development of antibiotic resistance.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available