National Level Cross-Sectional Study on Antibiotic Use in Children during the Pre- and Early COVID-19 Eras

Area of Science:

• Pediatric infectious diseases
• Antimicrobial stewardship
• Public health surveillance

Background:

• Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health concern.
• Understanding pediatric antibiotic usage patterns is crucial for effective antimicrobial stewardship.
• The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted healthcare practices, including antibiotic prescribing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively evaluate antibiotic usage in Korean children before and during the early COVID-19 pandemic.
• To analyze antibiotic consumption trends across different age groups and regions in Korea.
• To identify specific antibiotic classes and their usage patterns.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study utilizing national data from 2016 to 2021.
• Inclusion of children under 18 years, stratified by age and geographic region.
• Calculation of antibiotic consumption using Days of Therapy (DOT)/1000 pediatric inhabitant per day (PID).

Main Results:

• A total of 257,088,265 antibiotic doses were prescribed to 170,309,944 children over six years.
• The highest DOT/1000 PID was consistently observed in the youngest age groups (1-year, 2-4 years, and 0 years).
• Antibiotic use significantly decreased in 2020 (early pandemic) but rapidly rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.

Conclusions:

• The reduction in pediatric antibiotic use during the initial COVID-19 pandemic phase was temporary.
• Third-generation cephalosporins were frequently prescribed across most regions.
• Sustained interventions are required to address the persistent issue of antibiotic overuse and misuse in children.