With cooler temperatures, kids can spend more time inside, and that means passing viruses left and right. A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control advises physicians to be very careful about prescribing antibiotics for respiratory tract infections in children.
"They're asking you to distinguish when a child comes in with an upper respiratory infection, whether it's bacterial or viral and we don't have antibiotics for most of the viruses, they just have to run their course," explained Dr. Mike Macknin, who did not help with the report but is a pediatrician at Cleveland Clinic Children's.
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Antibiotics are considered a powerful treatment, but overuse can lead to resistance.
Symptoms of the common cold, which is viral in nature, typically last for 10 days.
So, pediatricians are being urged to focus on relieving symptoms and not prescribing antibiotics.
AAP and CDC researchers hope the more stringent guidelines help to cut into the estimated 10-million antibiotic prescriptions that are written each year for infections they are unlikely to help.
They also hope the guidelines help parents understand why their child may not be prescribed antibiotics, even if they're not feeling well. Macknin agrees.
"What we need to know as pediatricians is that parents are really smart and if we just explain to them why we're not giving antibiotics, usually they're very happy with that and they don't want their children treated if it's not going to do any good and it may cause harm," explained Macknin.
Similar guidelines were issued earlier this year for ear infections and sinusitis.
The complete report can be found in the online issue of the journal Pediatrics.