How often a child of 3 to 5 years can be given ANTIBIOTICS medecines. What are side effects if given too often

Question

Hi everybody - Good Day to all.
I have a daughter who since her birth have problem of throat infection when ever she takes some cold things. Now since two years she has been effected too much and every month or two she has this problem and each time we take her to child specialist, the doctor gives her ANTIBIOTICS. With the caugh syrup or other medicine it does not work.

In last two years she may have taken ANTIBIOTICS minimum 10 to 15 times.

Now she has some skin infection like white patches on her face and neck. We are showing some skin specialist to her for this problem.

Can somebody tell me isn't it too much for a child of less than five years to give ANTIBIOTICS every 2 to 3 months?
And is the skin infection due to the ANTIBIOTICS or it can be other problem?

Is there any permanent solution for the throat infection problem for the child. She will be five years on 27th December 2006.

I will be very grateful for all of your answers and thank you in advance.

Answer 1

I know that anyone can develop a high toloerance for a certain medication..ie alcohol. Which will no longer help the body or issue at hand. From wha I know of children taking antibotics for a long peroid of time is, given the dosage she's taking and the amouont of time. It can cause liver damage, or other internal organ damage. I know that there are different types of infections, bacteria, virus, and such Group A Streptococcal Disease (GAS)is often found in the throat and on the skin. Anyone can carry group a streptococci in the throat or skin. Some causes can become a life-threatening disease. This bacteria can be spread through the direct contact with mucus from the nose or throat of persons who are infected, or even through sores on the skin, wounds. GAS disease may develop when bacteria ggets into the body where bacteria usually are not found, such as lungs, blood or the muscles. For those with the severe case, supportive care in an intensive care unit may be needed. Sometimes surgery often is needed, removing damages tissue Adverse Reactions; anitbotics can cause certain harmful effects to occur within the bodies of people. HYPERSENSITIVITY is one, the symptoms include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and, skin eruptions(ecspecaially rash). ORGAN TOXICITY; when a high dose of an antibiotics are used for an extended lenght of time, or when the person has impaired liver or renal function. SUPERINFECTION; is a condition that happens when overgrowth of a resistant strain of bacteria, fungi, or yeast. "Experts blame the problem on the overuse of antibiotics that kill the weakest bacteria and leave the strongest to become more powerful". "Drug resistant organisms develop when a genetic mutation enables one or two bacteria to survive out of themillions in an infected person". "Antibiotics kill bacteria, not viruses, andtherefore shold not be used for viral illnesses.

Hope I helped and good luck. I can tell you more if you let me what other medication(s) she takes in addition to and the name of the antibiotic(s) she is taking.

Answer 2

I think you've been getting poor advice. Doctors unfortunately give out antibiotics because they believe people want them, not because they'll do any good.

There are two types of illness we all get - bacterial, and viral.

Antibiotics can cure a bacterial infection, but have no effect on viral infections. In fact, we have not found any medicine that can cure a viral infection; though we do have vaccines that can prevent you getting a viral infection, like the flu for example.

Many throat and other infections are viral, and you should not take antibiotics for those problems. Our immune system builds antibodies against these viruses, so if you just let them run their course, you will often be unable to catch that virus again. Children need to be exposed to viral infections and build an immune response to them. That's why young kids seem to be sick all the time - their immune system is learning to cope will all the common infections.

Now, when you take an antibiotic, it doesn't just kill a specific bacteria - it will often kill other bacteria that are not harmful; in fact they are helpful to the body. The side effect of killing the helpful bacteria is to produce symptoms like stomach pains and diarrhoea. This is a serious problem in children.

The other problem with antibiotics is that even if you have a bacterial infection and the antibiotic can kill it, often people stop taking it when they feel better, and don't finish the full course. The result is that a few bacteria can be left alive; and those learn to live with the antibiotic, making them resistant to it. Then you get a recurring infection, and the antibiotic cannot fight it.

We as a nation rely FAR to heavily on antibiotics. We've bullied our doctors into prescribing them when they are not necessary or indicated, and we've made them less useful by not taking them properly.

Finally, yes, skin rashes can occur when a person becomes allergic to an antibiotic - these may not clear up easily. Childhood eczema can be trigger by antibiotics, and last for years.

I would get your daughter to another paediatrician and ask for a second opinion.

Answer 3

I am a nurse and the first answer to your question is yes, a child can take antibiotics too much. The problem with antibiotics is that if prescribed too often the child grows more resistant to the drugs and requires a stronger antibiotic each time she is sick. If the problem is with the throat, the doctor should have already suggested that you see a throat specialist and possibly have the child's tonsils taken out. The patches on the skin could definitely be a side effect of the antibiotic use. I would seek a second opinion and would change to a pediatrician who is a little more interested in trying other options with a sick child, not just throwing an antibiotic at the problem every time the child is sick. Good luck and hope she is well soon.

Answer 4

My daughter had 13 rounds of antibiotics between her first and second year of life. She never developed a skin problem.
She did however develop allergies to certain antibiotics.

At 2 years old, we had her tonsils and adenoids taken out. She's 3 years old now, and has only had 2 rounds of antibiotics since her surgery.

My doctor reprimanded me for waiting so long to get the problem fixed. The surgery and recovery amounted to 1 episode of infection. And I made her go through 13 of them before I relented to surgery. I will feel guilty for the rest of my life for making her suffer like that!

Answer 5

They can build up a tollerance to antibiotics if they take the same one too often too close together. I wouldn't worry about it though really, my son was on antibiotics for about 3 months straight trying to get rid of cronic ear infections, eventually we just had to do tubes.

The skin infection COULD be an allergic reaction to one of the antibiotics or it could NOT. Take a list of all antibiotics your child has been on recently with you to the specialist.

Have you seen an ENT? (Ear nose and throat specialist) We love ours, he has dealt with my one sons tubes, our allergies and asthma, and my other son who gets throat infections from hayfever/allergies.

Good luck, isn't parenting fun?! lol

Answer 6

Were cultures done to prove she had a strep infection? If not, she may not have needed the antibiotics. If given too often, the child develops organisms no longer sensitive to antibiotics.

Answer 7

That's way too often for antibiotics. Getting tubes in her ears might help. I would also consider seeing another pediatrician. The kid's body is building up an immunity to good drugs and this will create nasty strains that make it hard for her body to fight and she could spread those strains to you and everyone else. The spots on her skin sound like they might be a staph infection.

Answer 8

She has taken a lot of antibiotics. I would suggest you get second opinions and a visit to a Ear-Nose -and Throat doctor
You situation is too complicated for advise from this site

Answer 9

Too many antibiotics. They really need to find the cause of her throat problem. The antibiotics are not working and now she has developed an immunity to them. Take her to an ear, nose and throat doctor (ENT) and and find the source of this.

Answer 10

I would imagine that with her taking that many antibiotics she would become immune to them. Im no doctor, but that sounds like a lot!
I hope someone can help her, good luck.