SAN FRANCISCO — Research presented at IDWeek highlighted the inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents for pediatric respiratory and ear, nose and throat infections. The researchers said that in many cases, first-line antibiotics for these infections are often overlooked in favor of broad-spectrum agents.

“We found that in our practice network, the most common area of antibiotic overuse was in the choice of the appropriate agent, especially for sinusitis, where overuse of unnecessarily broad-spectrum antibiotics was common,” Adam L. Hersh, MD, PhD, an associate professor of pediatrics in the division of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Utah, told Infectious Diseases in Children. “This problem was greater in urgent care settings compared with traditional office settings. This mirrors findings from other studies, and these settings are increasingly recognized as an important target for stewardship intervention.”