Researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente estimated age/diagnosis-specific proportions of antibiotic prescriptions from Kaiser Permanente Northern California for 2010-18, looking at prescriptions for all diagnoses, ear infections and respiratory diagnoses without indication of bacterial infection.
Researchers estimated antibiotic-prescribing associated with the flu by calculating the proportion of antibiotic prescribing that could be explained by weekly variation in flu incidence.
Four things to know:
1. The proportion of flu-associated antibiotic-prescribing among all antibiotic-prescribing was higher in children 5-17 years than in children younger than 5. Among children younger than 1 year, 1.4 percent of antibiotic-prescribing was flu-associated, compared to 2.7 percent in children ages 15-17.
2. The proportion of flu-associated prescribing was lower for adults older than 20, ranging from 0.7 percent for ages 25-29 to 1.6 percent for ages 60-64.
3. Most flu-associated prescribing in children under 10 was for ear infections, while 45 to 84 percent of flu-associated antibiotic prescribing for individuals older than 25 was for respiratory diagnoses without a bacterial infection.
4. “Our results suggest an overall modest benefit of increasing influenza vaccination coverage for reducing antibiotic-prescribing, with that benefit being greatest for school-age children, as well as the benefit of reducing unnecessary antibiotic-prescribing for respiratory diagnoses with no bacterial indication in persons aged over [25 years], both of which may further contribute to the mitigation of antimicrobial resistance,” the authors wrote.
Becker’s 3rd Annual Fall Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit is the top tier event that the people leading the future of pharmacy convene. This 3-day event is built specifically for Chief Pharmacy Officers and senior pharmacy leaders. The sessions examine the workforce, financial and clinical priorities shaping pharmacy today. Becker’s is where candid discussions flourish and new ideas thrive. Becker's 3rd Annual Fall Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit
