We are moving out of the antibiotic era of medicine. More frequent and dangerous antibiotic resistant infections have pushed the conventional medical world to accept that the once miracle of antibiotics are no longer the panacea they once were considered.
There is a public health push to educate the public that antibiotics are not always the answer for acute illness. Especially for illnesses such as, the common cold and the flu, antibiotics are strongly being discouraged – on the public level.
It is important that the public is aware of these changes, and begins asking more questions and demanding answers from physicians, especially in cases where antibiotics are being advocated. And especially in children, who, in general, should have more robust immune systems and less risk of developing severe complications from acute seasonal illnesses.
5 new guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics regarding antibiotic use in children
New Updates From AAP
The American Academy of Pediatrics has recently released a list of 5 new practices to help guide pediatricians, especially in hospital settings. The following is taken from an AAP news release.
Selecting the right antibiotic dose at the right time for the right duration can go a long way to reduce the effects of antimicrobial resistance in hospitalized pediatric patients.
Pediatric infectious diseases and fetus and newborn experts from the AAP and Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society collaborated on a list of 5 things physicians and patients should question. List items were selected based on whether they were feasible, evidence-based, not duplicative, free from harm and truly necessary.
The list is part of Choosing Wisely, an initiative supported by the AAP to help pediatricians start conversations with families about the necessity of medical tests, treatments and procedures.
For this list, Antibiotic Stewardship in Hospitalized Children, experts acknowledged that sudden, inexplicable onset of severe illness in an individual hospital patient might warrant short-term, empiric broad-spectrum antibiotic use. Ultimately, the decision is made at the discretion of the medical team.
Pediatricians can pause and choose wisely on the following:
- Don’t initiate empiric antibiotic therapy in the patient with suspected invasive bacterial infection without first confirming that blood, urine or other appropriate cultures have been obtained, excluding exceptional cases.
- Don’t use a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent for perioperative prophylaxis or continue prophylaxis after the incision is closed for uncomplicated clean and clean-contaminated procedures.
- Don’t treat uncomplicated community-acquired pneumonia in otherwise healthy, immunized, hospitalized patients with antibiotic therapy broader than ampicillin.
- Don’t use vancomycin or carbapenems empirically for neonatal intensive care patients unless an infant is known to have a specific risk for pathogens resistant to narrower-spectrum agents.
- Don’t place peripherally inserted central catheters and/or use prolonged IV antibiotics in otherwise healthy children with infections that can be transitioned to an appropriate oral agent.
Razi Berry is the founder and publisher of the journal Naturopathic Doctor News & Review that has been in print since 2005 and the premier consumer-faced website of naturopathic medicine, NaturalPath. She is the host of The Natural Cancer Prevention Summit and The Heart Revolution-Heal, Empower and Follow Your Heart, and the popular 10 week Sugar Free Summer program. From a near death experience as a young girl that healed her failing heart, to later overcoming infertility and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia through naturopathic medicine, Razi has lived the mind/body healing paradigm. Her projects uniquely capture the tradition and philosophy of naturopathy: The healing power of nature, the vital life force in every living thing and the undeniable role that science and mind/body medicine have in creating health and overcoming dis-ease. Follow Razi on Facebook at Razi Berry and join us at Love is Medicine to explore the convergence of love and health.