Antibiotic exposure among young infants suffering from diarrhoea in Bangladesh

AIMS: Appropriate rehydration has always been significant in treating diarrhoeal diseases in children. Irrational antibiotic use among diarrhoeal children has remained a major public health concern. Information regarding antibiotic use in young infants suffering from diarrhoea is very limited and a unique aspect of research. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of antibiotic use in the community among 2–6 months infants with diarrhoeal illnesses and having different nutritional status. METHODS: We investigated a total of 5279 infants aged 2–6 months at Dhaka hospital, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, between September 2018 and June 2019. Among them, 257 infants were suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM). History of taking antibiotics was ascertained by direct observation of a prescription by a physician, the bottle of antibiotic or asking the caregiver about the name of antibiotic or its price that is very close to the usual market price of an antibiotic. RESULTS: Overall, 52% of infants received antibiotics before hospital admission. Non‐SAM infants had higher odds of receiving antibiotics (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.52, 95% confidence interval: 1.18, 1.97, P value = 0.003) compared to infants with SAM and use of antibiotics increased with age (aOR = 1.11, 95% confidence interval: 1.06, 1.17, P value<0.001). Commonly used antibiotics were azithromycin (13.3%), ciprofloxacin (7.7%), erythromycin (7.7%) and metronidazole (2.6%). The proportion of receiving ciprofloxacin was significantly lower in infants with SAM compared to their non‐SAM counterparts (2.7% vs. 7.97%, P value = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: The study underscores the excessive use of antibiotics among diarrhoeal infants, which is already a major public health concern in low‐ and middle‐income countries.