Antibiotics questioned for urinary tract problems

Giving children antibiotics to ward off repeat urinary tract infections does not prevent the problem from returning and leads to infections that are resistant to the drugs, researchers said on Tuesday.

Preventive daily use of antimicrobials is often recommended in cases where children have already had a urinary tract infection and tests indicate they have a backflow of urine from the bladder into the ureter, which connect to the kidneys.

As many as 180,000 children in the United States have a urinary tract infection by the time they reach age 6, and up to 40 percent of those have the backflow problem which can cause a growth of bacteria in urine remaining in the tract.

Dr. Patrick Conway, who led the research, said: "We found that daily antibiotic treatment was not associated with a decreased risk of recurrent urinary tract infections, but was associated with an increased risk of resistant infections."

When disease strains become resistant to drugs it is harder to treat them.

Conway, currently with Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, did the research while at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. It was based on a look at the medical records of nearly 700 children.

The report, published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, concluded that pediatricians would be wise to "discuss the risks and unclear benefits of prophylaxis with families" as they make decision on whether to use antibiotics for such purposes.

source : news.yahoo.com