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Antibiotic use has been shown to increase bacterial antibiotic resistance in hospitals. This cross-sectional Icelandic study extends that relationship outside hospital walls.
Nasopharyngeal cultures were obtained from 919 children in five communities. The communities' average daily and annual use of antibiotics were measured via pharmaceutical sales records. There was nearly a 2.5-fold difference in antibiotic use among the different towns. Pneumococci were isolated from over 50% of the children, and 9.7% were resistant to penicillin. Multivariate analysis revealed the following predictors of penicillin resistance: age under two years (20%, vs. 6.5% resistance in children aged two and older), living in the area with highest antibiotic use (o…