TY - JOUR T1 - Antibiotics in Respiratory Tract Infections in Hospital Pediatric Emergency Departments JO - Archivos de Bronconeumología T2 - AU - Guzmán Molina,Claudia AU - Velasco Rodríguez-Belvís,Marta AU - Coroleu Bonet,Albert AU - Vall Combelles,Oriol AU - García-Algar,Óscar SN - 15792129 M3 - 10.1016/j.arbr.2014.06.013 DO - 10.1016/j.arbr.2014.06.013 UR - https://archbronconeumol.org/en-antibiotics-in-respiratory-tract-infections-articulo-S157921291400192X AB - BackgroundRespiratory tract infections are one of the most frequent problems in pediatric clinics and generate an elevated prescription of antibiotics. The aim of this study was to find out the standard of care practice about antibiotic use in these infections in a pediatric emergency department and to evaluate compliance with clinical guidelines. MethodsA pediatric emergency department database was reviewed from July 2005 to October 2007 under the category “respiratory infection”, including variables such as age, antibiotic prescription and compliance with current clinical recommendations. ResultsOut of the 23114 reviewed reports, 32.7% (7567) were upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) (cold, acute otitis media [AOM], sinusitis and tonsillopharyngitis) or lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) (laryngitis, bronchitis, bronchiolitis and pneumonia). Children under the age of 2 were the most represented age group.Amongst URTI, rhinopharyngitis was the most frequent infection, while bronchitis was the most frequent among LRTI. Antibiotic therapy (mainly amoxicillin) was prescribed in 30.8% of URTI (5.7% rhinopharyngitis, 96.5% AOM, and 36.7% tonsillopharyngitis) and in 12.4% of LRTI. ConclusionsThe percentage of respiratory tract infections was similar to previous studies and the antibiotic prescriptions followed current guidelines, except for cases diagnosed with AOM. Prescription compliance and clinical course of the cases should be monitored. ER -