Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 27, 2026
Subcutaneous Infection of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)
Published on: February 9, 2011
[Children in day care centers--infections and use of antibiotics]
Anne-Lise Nordlie1, Bjørg Marit Andersen
1Avdeling for helsefag Høgskolen i Oslo Pilestredet 50 0167 Oslo. anne-lise.nordlie@hf.hio.no
Insights
Day-care children in Oslo experience frequent infections and high antibiotic use. This study highlights significant antibiotic prescription rates following medical consultations for common childhood illnesses.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric infectious diseases
- Antimicrobial stewardship
- Public health epidemiology
Context:
- Bacterial resistance poses a global health challenge, exacerbated by widespread antibiotic use.
- Day-care settings are known hubs for infectious disease transmission among young children.
Purpose:
- To investigate the incidence of infections and patterns of antibiotic utilization in children attending day-care centers in Oslo and Akershus, Norway.
- To assess the correlation between infection types, medical consultations, and antibiotic prescriptions in this pediatric population.
Summary:
- A survey of 563 parents revealed that 97% of children had infections in the past year, averaging seven episodes per child.
- Antibiotics were prescribed in 29% of 3,900 infection episodes, with 65% of children receiving antibiotics overall.
- High rates of antibiotic prescription were observed, particularly for ear, throat, and bronchitis infections, with 80% of physician consultations resulting in antibiotic prescriptions.
Impact:
- Findings indicate a high burden of infections and substantial antibiotic use among Oslo-area day-care attendees.
- The study underscores the need for targeted interventions to optimize antibiotic prescribing practices in pediatric primary care and day-care settings.
Background:
Bacterial resistance is a major problem in many countries and is associated with liberal use of antibiotics. In this study infections and use of antibiotics were studied in day-care children in Oslo and Akershus counties in Norway.
Material And Methods:
Parents in 22 randomly chosen day-care centers were asked to complete a semi-structured questionnaire about infections and antibiotic treatment of their children over the last 12 months. Out of 1,126 parents, 563 (50%) completed the questionnaire.
Results:
97% of the children had suffered infections over the last 12 months (mean seven infections); colds 85%, otitis 36%, throat infections 27%, bronchitis 13%, pneumonia 12%, eye infections 41%, gastroenteritis 63%, and wound infections 9%. Out of 3,900 episodes of infections, 29% were treated with antibiotics; in all, 65% of the children received antibiotics. 80% of parents had consulted physicians with their children: 80% of the consultations resulted in prescriptions of antibiotics. Boys had more infections than girls and used antibiotics more often. Younger children had more infections than older ones, but did not use antibiotics more often. Among children with ear infections 75% got antibiotics, throat infections 85%, bronchitis 82%, and eye infections 58%.
Interpretation:
Children in day-care centers in the Oslo area have a high occurrence of infections, a high rate of medical consultations, and a very high use of antibiotics.
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