Published: May 13, 2014 | Updated: May 14, 2014 By Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today Click Here For Story Source and VIDEO Action Points Note that this study of administrative data suggests a link between early antibiotic use and subsequent asthma in children. Be aware that causality can not be determined here; it […]
Published: Mar 10, 2014 By Todd Neale, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today Full Story Action Points Azithromycin and levofloxacin were both associated with elevated risks of death and serious cardiac arrhythmias during standard lengths of prescription. Point out that although the risk of death was higher with azithromycin (through 5 days) and levofloxacin (through 10 […]
Published: Jan 27, 2014 | Updated: Jan 28, 2014 By Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today Full Story Action Points A behavioral “nudge” significantly cut inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions for acute respiratory infections in primary care clinics. Note that displaying poster-sized commitment letters in examination rooms was simple and inexpensive, but had an effect “comparable […]
Steven Fox January 15, 2014 Full Story (may require free registration): http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/819281 Clinicians in emergency rooms appear to be getting the message that antibiotics need to be used judiciously in pediatric patients. However, that same message, as it pertains to adults, may need reinforcement. “Inappropriate use of antibiotics for acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) has decreased […]
National Cancer Institute National Institute of Health Key Points The authors of the study found that antibiotic use was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The more antibiotics the women in the study had used, the higher their risk of breast cancer. (Question 1) These results do not mean that antibiotics cause cancer, […]
Pediatrics 2013 Nov 18;[EPub Ahead of Print], AL Hersh, MA Jackson, LA Hicks Consensus and Guidelines · November 28, 2013 TAKE-HOME MESSAGE Judicious Prescription of Antibiotics for Pediatric UTI This review is focused on appropriate diagnosis and judicious antibiotic use for pediatric patients with UTI. The article provides a practical guide to reducing antibiotic use […]
Principles for Judicious Antibiotic Prescribing Lauri Hicks, DO Disclosures|November 19, 2013 Hello. I’m Lauri Hicks, medical director of CDC’s Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work program. Did you know that ear infection, specifically acute otitis media (AOM), leads to more antibiotic prescriptions than any other syndrome? Just this year, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) […]
A Systematic Review TAKE-HOME MESSAGE In a systematic review and meta-analysis of 20 studies, postnatal exposure to antibiotics during the first year of life was associated with an increased risk for eczema (odds ratio, 1.41), with an increased risk of 7% for each additional antibiotic course received. These data indicate that antibiotic use early in […]
Published: Oct 3, 2013 By Michael Smith http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/IDWeek/42052 Action Points Note that some of this research was only published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. Despite years of persuasion and publicity, antibiotics are still drastically overprescribed for […]
Antibiotic-Related Illness in U.S. Tops 2 Million Annually IMNG Medical Media, 2013 Sep 17, W McKnight Each year in the United States, more than 2 million people contract drug-resistant infections and 23,000 die, primarily in a hospital setting. The figures are part of a first-of-its-kind report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, detailing […]
by Michael Smith North American Correspondent, MedPage Today Action Points Fluoroquinolone antibiotics are associated with an increased risk of blood glucose swings in diabetic patients. Note that the risks were low, observed in fewer than one in 100 patients studied, but clinicians should be cautious when treating diabetic patients with fluoroquinolones. Fluoroquinolone antibiotics are associated […]
FDA Beefs Up Fluoroquinolone Warning by Michael Smith North American Correspondent, MedPage Today The risk of nerve damage that fluoroquinolone antibiotics carry may come on rapidly and perhaps be permanent, the FDA warned Thursday. The agency said it is requiring an update to the drug labels and medication guides for all systemic fluoroquinolones in order to […]
News August 20, 2013 SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. (IMNG) – Only certain classes of antibiotics increased the risk of yeast infections in a study of 650 women followed for 18 months to see what factors were associated with new-onset vulvovaginal candidiasis. Penicillins increased the risk the most (adjusted hazard ratio, 4.1), followed by cephalosporins (aHR, […]
By Amy Maxmen and Nature magazine Full Story: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=antibiotics-linked-weight-gain-mice Bacteria living naturally within the gut provide a gateway to flab, according to a few reports this week. These bacteria may explain how antibiotics fatten farm animals and perhaps people too, and how certain genes predispose organisms to obesity. In a study published 22 August in Nature, researchers mimicked […]
Roderick P Venekamp Evid Based Med. 2012;17(6):e16 Introduction Commentary on: Smith SR, Montgomery LG, Williams JW Jr. Treatment of mild to moderate sinusitis. Arch Intern Med2012;172:510–3. Context Acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) is a common reason for patients to visit a general practitioner (GP).[1,2] In general practice, diagnosing ARS is based on clinical signs and symptoms such […]