Antibiotic use in paediatrics

Antibiotic use in paediatricsAntibiotics have been described as medicines used to prevent and treat bacterial infections.Antibiotics play an important role in the treatment and management of bacterial infections; thus, the issue of rational use of antibiotics and monitoring of possible resistance to antibiotics cannot be overemphasized.The concern for the management of antibiotic resistance in many countries has led to the introduction of various measures to monitor and ensure the rational use of antibiotics.Such initiatives include World Health Organization (WHO) model Essential Medicine List for children [EMLc] introduced in 2017, which attempted to improve antibiotic stewardship by streamlining their use and classifying antibiotics into three broad classes: Access, Watch, and Reserve [AWaRe], this was updated in 2019. 1 In this classification, Access antibiotics refer to the first line or second line antibiotics for key infections, which should be widely available at low cost, Watch antibiotics are considered as those with high susceptibility to resistance, and Reserve are antibiotics of last resort and should be used as a contingency under specialist guidance and monitoring.Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics indicated that each year at least 2.8 million people contracted an antibioticresistant infection in the USA, and more than 35,000 people of the infected individuals die as a consequence of antibiotic resistance.Antibiotic resistance remains one of the principal public health issues in the world. 2 The issue of antibiotic or antimicrobial resistance is only one component of the problem arising from antibiotic use and probably the most publicized aspect of the use of antibiotics.The other part of the ever-growing challenge with the use of antibiotics is the aspect of adverse drug reactions (ADR) associated with antibiotics; such events might include idiosyncratic reactions, and other known and unknown adverse events that might occur in patients.Vulnerable populations like the paediatrics and elderly might be affected more by the scourge of antibiotic/antimicrobial resistance, thus leading to infections requiring alternative or reserved antibiotics.Namibia, a developing country in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), has limited studies done on the use of antibiotics in the paediatric population.While the national antibiotics guideline is still been developed, the Namibia Standard Treatment Guidelines has provided guidance on the use of antibiotics as first, second or third line.The Namibia Essential Medicine List [Sixth Edition, 2016], provides for the classification of antibiotics according to levels of care, and includes a number of antibiotics that can be used in paediatrics for common infections.Antibiotic stewardship, which is the effort to improve antibiotic use so that these medicines are only used when needed and, when needed, the right antibiotic is used correctly; becomes a very important task for all health care workers and patients. 3Antibiotic stewardship programmes