WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Despite continued warnings that the overuse of antibiotics is enabling so-called superbugs -- infectious diseases resistant to drugs -- physicians continue to prescribe children and teenagers antibiotics about twice as often as necessary. That according to a new study by researchers with the CDC and the Seattle Children's Hospital.
According to the new study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, roughly two-thirds of all flu- or cold-like symptoms -- whether a bad cough, an earache, or a sore throat -- are caused by viral infections. Viral infections won't respond to antibiotics. Yet antibiotics are prescribed some 57 percent of the time. That means at least 11 million antibiotic prescriptions are given to children unnecessarily.