Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 7, 2026
Cultivate Primary Nasal Epithelial Cells from Children and Reprogram into Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Published on: March 10, 2016
Antimicrobial prescribing for children in primary care
Jennifer Yan1,2, Lesley Hawes3, Lyle Turner3
1Infection and Immunity, Monash Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Insights
Australian children received antibiotics in 1 in 5 consultations annually. Prescribing patterns showed variation between clinics, with a slight overall decrease in antibiotic use over five years.
Area of Science:
- Paediatric Pharmacology
- General Practice Research
- Antimicrobial Stewardship
Background:
- Antimicrobial prescribing in children is a significant public health concern.
- Understanding prescribing patterns in general practice is crucial for effective antimicrobial stewardship.
- Previous studies have highlighted variations in antibiotic use among different demographics and settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize antimicrobial prescribing trends in Australian general practice for paediatric patients (≤18 years).
- To identify common antibiotics prescribed, reasons for prescription, and variations in prescribing practices.
- To analyze prescribing data over a five-year period to observe changes and identify areas for improvement.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of routinely collected patient data from 39 general practices in eastern metropolitan Melbourne.
- Data spanned a 5-year period (2010-2014), encompassing 744,883 consultations for 89,983 paediatric patients.
- Analysis focused on the proportion of consultations resulting in antibiotic prescriptions, types of antibiotics, and inter-practice variations.
Main Results:
- Approximately one in five children received an antibiotic prescription annually.
- Cephalexin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, and cefaclor were the most frequently prescribed antibiotics.
- Significant inter-practice variation in prescribing frequency (2.1-19.7%) was observed, with an overall 2.3% decrease in prescribing over the study period.
Conclusions:
- The study highlights specific antibiotic prescribing practices for children in Australian general practice.
- Further investigation is needed into the low use of amoxicillin and continued use of cefaclor.
- Findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to optimize paediatric antibiotic prescribing.
Aim:
To describe the patterns of antimicrobial prescribing in general practice for children aged ≤18 years.
Methods:
This is a review of routinely collected patient data extracted from computerised medical records from 39 general practices in eastern metropolitan Melbourne over a 5-year period, 2010-2014.
Main Outcome Measures:
Proportion of paediatric consultations resulting in antibiotic prescription, type and frequency of antibiotics prescribed, antibiotic prescribing stratified by age, reason for indication and inter-practice variation.
Results:
There were 744 883 consultations for 89 983 individual paediatric patients and 85 913 prescriptions for antibiotics during the study period. Of these antibiotic prescriptions, 75 410 were associated with a consultation, and 10 503 (12.2% of all prescriptions) had no associated consultation in the data. On average, one in five individual children was prescribed an antibiotic each year. The most commonly prescribed antibiotics were cephalexin, amoxycillin/clavulanate, cefaclor, phenoxymethylpenicillin and roxithromycin. Less than 3% of all prescriptions were for amoxycillin. Prescribing of cefaclor and roxithromycin decreased, although cefaclor remained the third most common antibiotic choice for general practitioners. Peaks in prescribing were noted over winter months. Reason for prescription was not recorded for 82% of prescriptions. The frequency of antibiotic prescription per consultation varied substantially (2.1-19.7%) between general practitioner clinics. Overall, antibiotic prescribing decreased by 2.3% over the 5-year period.
Conclusions:
This study provides a focused examination of antibiotic prescribing practices for children in Australian general practice. More information is required to better understand specific prescribing practices in children, including the low frequency of amoxycillin prescription and ongoing prescription of cefaclor.
Related Concept Videos
01:28Antimicrobial Effectiveness
01:23Antimicrobial Proteins
Interferons
Interferons (IFNs) are proteins produced by lymphocytes, macrophages, and fibroblasts infected with viruses. While IFNs cannot prevent viruses from entering and...
01:21Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-I
Physicians
The physician's primary responsibility is to diagnose illness and direct the medical or surgical treatment of the condition. The authority to admit patients to a healthcare agency or institution and practice care within that setting is granted to physicians by the healthcare agency or institution...
01:18Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-II
Physical Therapist
A physical therapist (PT) aims to restore function or prevent additional impairment in a patient following an injury or disease. Massage, heat, cold, water, sonar waves, exercises, and electrical stimulation are some treatments used by PTs to treat...
01:25Continuing Care
01:22Standards of Care I