ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602050096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: Associated Press
An assistant professor of pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School has received a $450,000 grant to investigate why antibiotics are losing their effectiveness fighting infections in children.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded the three-year grant to Sandra J. Holmes. Her investigation of antibiotic-resistant infections, especially in children, will become part of a study that has mobilized the medical field.
Last month, the Journal of the American Medical Association and 36 other journals in 21 countries devoted at least part of their publications - more than 200 articles - to the threat of drug-resistant bacteria and viruses.
Many factors are thought to be responsible for the emergence of drug-resistant organisms, including overuse and improper use of antibiotics.
The CDC first sounded the alarm about this trend in 1992.
Holmes' grant is part of $6.7 million in funding that resulted from the CDC's plea for money to study the issue. She says it is particularly appropriate to focus such research on children's infections.
``Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem among persons of all ages, but is especially serious among young children who have frequent infections and are often treated with antibiotics,'' she said.
In the United States, 15 percent of all antibiotics used are prescribed to treat children's ear infections.
Patient Care, a journal for primary care physicians, says children in day care use three to fives times as many antibiotics as those who don't, mostly because disease-resistant organisms flourish and spread in such environments.
In addition to focusing on drug-resistant germs, Holmes' research will examine the economic impact of these illnesses in children, both in terms of medical costs and time parents miss from work to care for a sick child.
Working with a regional pediatric group, Pediatric Specialists, Holmes will follow 400 kids ranging in age from 6 months to 5 years. Parents will be asked to complete a monthly diary detailing any illnesses their children acquire, and family members will be tested at regular intervals.
Holmes' study also will include a segment on parents' knowledge about antibiotics, and she will work to increase physician knowledge about drug-resistant bacteria and viruses through educational lectures.
``Our need to know more about this problem is very great.''
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