Pediatric antibiotic use associated with respiratory syncytial virus and influenza in the United States, 2008-2018

Laura M King; Katia J Bruxvoort; Sara Y Tartof; Joseph A Lewnard

doi:10.1093/infdis/jiaf309

Pediatric antibiotic use associated with respiratory syncytial virus and influenza in the United States, 2008-2018

J Infect Dis. 2025 Jun 7:jiaf309. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaf309. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Laura M King¹, Katia J Bruxvoort², Sara Y Tartof³, Joseph A Lewnard¹

Affiliations

¹ University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Berkeley, California, USA.
² University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
³ Kaiser Permanente Department of Research & Evaluation Southern California, Pasadena, California, USA.

PMID: 40479527
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiaf309

Abstract

Background: Understanding of the contributions of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza infections to pediatric antibiotic use is limited. We aimed to estimate the proportions and incidence of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions associated with RSV and influenza infections in a sample of commercially-insured US children.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions dispensed to children in the Optum Clinformatics™ DataMart from 2008-2018. We used negative binomial time-series models regressing weekly antibiotic prescriptions against RSV and influenza circulation measures to estimate counterfactual rates of antibiotic prescriptions in the presence and absence of RSV and influenza circulation overall, by age group, census division, and antibiotic class. We considered syndromic (medical claims) and laboratory (National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System) RSV and influenza measures and controlled for age, division, 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction, and seasonal and secular trends.

Results: An estimated 6.3% (95% confidence interval 5.2-7.3%) and 3.4% (3.1-3.8%) of antibiotic prescriptions were associated with RSV and influenza, respectively. These estimates translate to 72.6 (59.7-85.9) RSV-associated and 40.0 (35.1-45.1) influenza-associated antibiotic prescriptions per 1000 children annually. RSV-associated antibiotic prescription incidence was highest among children aged ≤5 years while influenza-associated antibiotic prescriptions were highest among children >5 years. Macrolides were the antibiotic class for which RSV and influenza accounted for the greatest share of prescribing.

Conclusions: RSV and influenza are associated with meaningful proportions of pediatric antibiotic prescriptions. Measures to prevent RSV and influenza infections in children, including immunization, may reduce antibiotic use and aid in mitigating antibiotic resistance.

Keywords: Respiratory syncytial virus; antibiotic stewardship; antibiotics; influenza; pediatrics; time series.