A new CDC-authored study published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society finds that antibiotics are the leading cause of emergency department visits for adverse drug events among children. Of nearly 74 million prescriptions filled by retail pharmacies in the US for children under 19 years, CDC study estimates that 70,000 resulted in emergency department visits for antibiotic-related adverse drug events each year from 2011–2015; 41% of these were made by children 2 years or younger. In addition to the risk of harming individual patients, antibiotic use drives the development of antibiotic resistance.

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