THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 3, 1996 TAG: 9602030329
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
With a $450,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, local researcher Sandra J. Holmes has enlisted in a medical war.
Holmes, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School, was awarded the three-year grant to investigate, among other things, why antibiotics are losing their effectiveness in treating children's infections.
The issue of antibiotic-resistant infections is mobilizing the medical profession. Last month, the Journal of the American Medical Association and 36 other medical journals in 21 countries devoted all or part of their publications - more than 200 articles - to the growing threat of drug-resistant bacteria and viruses.
Many factors are thought to be responsible for the emergence of drug-resistant organisms, including overuse of antibiotics and improper use of the drugs. One improper use, for example, would be failure to finish a full course of treatment, which may allow a few stronger, more-resistant bacteria to survive and reproduce.
The CDC was one of the first health agencies to sound the alarm about the this problem in a 1992 report. Then, the authors recommended increased funding to study drug-resistant organisms.
Holmes' grant is part of the $6.7 million resulting from that plea.
It is particularly appropriate to focus such research on children's infections, Holmes says.
``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.'' In fact, 15 percent of all antibiotics used in this country are prescribed for children's ear infections.
Additionally, many children attend day care, where disease-resistant organisms flourish and spread. Patient Care, a journal for primary-care physicians, noted that kids in day care use antibiotics three to five times more often than other children.
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 as well as less-obvious costs, such as the time parents miss from work to care for a sick child.
Working with a regional pediatric group, Pediatric Specialists, Holmes will follow 400 children ages 6 months to 5 years for three years.
Each month, their parents will be asked to complete a diary with information on any illnesses.
Nasal swabs will be taken from children at the beginning of the study and at regular times thereafter to test for antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
If the organisms are found, other family members will be tested to see if they are carrying the same resistant bugs.
Because pediatricians and family practitioners often receive pressure from parents to prescribe antibiotics for sick children - even when an illness is viral, and thus wouldn't be helped by antibiotics - Holmes' study also will examine parents' knowledge about antibiotic use.
At the same time, she'll be working to increase physician knowledge about drug-resistant bacteria and viruses through educational lectures. In May, she has arranged for an expert from the CDC to speak here.
``Our need to know more about this problem is very great,'' Holmes says.
``Nationally, we know it's a problem, and we need to know the extent to which it is a problem in Hampton Roads.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Sandra J. Holmes
by CNB