High burden of infectious disease and antibiotic use in early life in Australian Aboriginal communities.
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Date
2019-02-14
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Affiliation(s)
(Cuningham, McVernon, Campbell) Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The Royal Melbourne Hospital and The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
(Cuningham, Andrews, Kearns, Dhurrkay, Tong) Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, NT, Australia
(McVernon) Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
(Lydeamore) School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
(Lydeamore, Campbell) Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The Royal Children's Hospital, VIC, Australia
(Andrews) National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, ACT, Australia
(Carapetis) Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia and Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Australia
(Clucas) Clinical Haematology, The Alfred Hospital and Monash Medical Centre, VIC, Australia
(Tong) Victorian Infectious Diseases Service, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, and Doherty Department University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, VIC, Australia
(Cuningham, Andrews, Kearns, Dhurrkay, Tong) Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, NT, Australia
(McVernon) Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
(Lydeamore) School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
(Lydeamore, Campbell) Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The Royal Children's Hospital, VIC, Australia
(Andrews) National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, ACT, Australia
(Carapetis) Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia and Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Australia
(Clucas) Clinical Haematology, The Alfred Hospital and Monash Medical Centre, VIC, Australia
(Tong) Victorian Infectious Diseases Service, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, and Doherty Department University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, VIC, Australia
Year
2019
Citation
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. Vol.43(2), 2019, pp. 149-155.
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Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
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The authors acknowledge the Lowitja Institute and the Cooperative Research
Centre for Aboriginal Health who originally funded and lent significant support to the EAHSP.
Abstract
Objective: To quantify the childhood infectious disease burden and antibiotic use in the Northern Territory's East Arnhem region through synthesis and analysis of historical data resources. Method(s): We combined primary health clinic data originally reported in three separate publications stemming from the East Arnhem Healthy Skin Project (Jan-01 to Sep-07). Common statistical techniques were used to explore the prevalence of infectious conditions and the seasonality of infections, and to measure rates of antibiotic use. Result(s): There was a high monthly prevalence of respiratory (mean: 32% [95% confidence interval (CI): 20%, 34%]) and skin (mean: 20% [95%CI: 19%, 22%]) infectious syndromes, with upper respiratory tract infections (mean: 29% [95%CI: 27%, 31%]) and skin sores (mean: 15% [95%CI: 14%, 17%]) the most common conditions. Antibiotics were frequently prescribed with 95% (95%CI: 91%, 97%) of children having received at least one antibiotic prescription by their first birthday, and 47% having received six antibiotic prescriptions; skin sores being a key driver. Conclusion(s): Early life infections drive high antibiotic prescribing rates in remote Aboriginal communities. Implications for public health: Eliminating skin disease could reduce antibiotic use by almost 20% in children under five years of age in this population. Copyright © 2019 The Authors
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Type
Article
Study type
Observational study (cohort, case-control, cross sectional, or survey)
Subjects
Rural and remote health
Infectious diseases
Paediatrics
Infectious diseases
Paediatrics