Report: Inappropriate Antibiotic Use Still High Despite Educational Efforts

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ –
The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT)
today released an issue brief showing continued high rates of
inappropriate antibiotic use, despite a 15-year national outreach
campaign by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to educate
providers and consumers on the dangers of antibiotic overuse.

According to the CDC, antibiotic-resistant infections in the
U.S. create $20 billion in excess healthcare costs and eight
million additional hospital days. Antibiotics do not help or cure
viral infections, such as bronchitis or the flu.

In Michigan, overall antibiotic prescribing for adult Blue Cross
Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) members decreased 9.3 percent from
2007 to 2009, but increased 4.5 percent for children during the
same time period. The studies found significant differences in
prescribing patterns between southeast Michigan and the rest of the
state, particularly for children. Children in southeast Michigan
were prescribed an average of .93 antibiotics per year, while
children in outstate Michigan were prescribed an average of 1.0 per
year.

“The continuing high rate of antibiotic use for viral infections
in children and adults—particularly outside of southeast
Michigan—is of great concern, as is the increase in the use
of broad spectrum antibiotics in children,” said Marianne
Udow-Phillips, CHRT’s director. “Using antibiotics when they are
unnecessary—or treating simple infections with drugs that
should be reserved for the most serious infections—are
practices that contribute to antibiotic resistance, making future
infections harder to treat.”

Highlights of the Antibiotic Prescribing and Use issue brief, an
analysis of BCBSM data, include:

• BCBSM spent nearly $16.5 million for the top 10 antibiotics
  prescribed to adult members. Of these 10 most commonly prescribed
  drugs, five were listed

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