Study finds kids carry antibiotic-resistant bacterium

Indiscriminate use of antibiotics has given rise to resistant strains of bacteria that make serious infections harder to treat. A new study of children under age 7 found that 8 percent carried antibiotic-resistant S. pneumoniae – a rate much higher than would have been seen a decade ago.

Children in group child care were four times more likely to carry the antibiotic-resistant bacterium. Those who recently had used antibiotics or who had a respiratory infection were also more likely to carry resistant strains.

The Harvard Medical School study of 742 Massachusetts children is in the October issue of Pediatrics.

Find more information about antibiotic resistance at this Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site.