Acute respiratory tract infections – otitis media, streptococcal pharyngitis, and sinusitis – comprise virtually a laundry list for antibiotic overuse in self-limited conditions. Certainly, a subset of each of these conditions are true bacterial infections and, again, a subset of these have their resolution hastened by antibiotics – and, finally, a subset of those would have clinically important worsening if antibiotics were not used. Conversely, the harms of antibiotics are generally well-recognized,though not necessarily routinely appreciated in clinical practice.
This patient-centered outcomes study, with both retrospective and prospective portions, enrolled children diagnosed with the aforementioned “acute respiratory tract infections” and evaluated outcomes differences between those receiving “narrow-spectrum” antibiotics and those receiving “broad-spectrum antibiotics”. Before even delving into their results, let’s go straight to this quote from the limitations:
Because children were identified based on clinician diagnosis plus an antibiotic prescription to identify bacterial acute respiratory tract infections, some children likely had viral infections.
“Some children likely had viral infections” is a strong contender for understatement of the year.
So, with untold numbers of viral infections included, it should be no surprise these authors found no difference in “treatment failure” between narrow-spectrum and broad-spectrum antibiotics. Nor, in their prospective portion, did they identify any statistically difference in surrogates for wellness, such as missed school, symptom resolution, or pediatric quality of life. However, adverse events were higher (35.6% vs. 25.1%, p < 0.001) in the broad-spectrum antibiotic cohort, and this accompanied smaller, but consistent, differences favoring narrow-spectrum antibiotics on those wellness measures.
So, the takeaway: broad-spectrum antibiotics conferred no advantage, only harms. If you’re using antibiotics (unnecessarily), use the cheapest, most benign ones possible.
“Association of Broad- vs Narrow-Spectrum Antibiotics With Treatment Failure, Adverse Events, and Quality of Life in Children With Acute Respiratory Tract Infections”
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2666503