CDC Press Release: Severe diarrheal illness in children linked to antibiotics prescribed in doctor’s offices

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent this bulletin at 03/07/2014 02:22 PM EST

Press Release

Severe diarrheal illness in children linked to antibiotics prescribed in doctor’s offices

CDC urges physicians to improve prescribing practices to reduce harm

For Immediate Release: Friday, March 7, 2014,
Contact: CDC Media Relations

The majority of pediatric Clostridium difficile infections, which are bacterial infections that cause severe diarrhea and are potentially life-threatening, occur among children in the general community who recently took antibiotics prescribed in doctor’s offices for other conditions, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published this week in Pediatrics.

The study showed that 71 percent of the cases of C. difficile infection identified among children aged 1 through 17 years were community-associated—that is, not associated with an overnight stay in a healthcare facility. By contrast, two-thirds ofC. difficile infections in adults are associated with hospital stays.