Respiratory infections in children

In this responsible prescribing video presentation, our specialists discuss the management of respiratory illness in children.

New Zealand has a high antibiotic prescribing rate: in a 2019 report, New Zealand was fourth in the OECD (after Italy, Greece and South Korea) in terms of antibiotic use. Almost all of this was dispensed in the community. By the time they turn five, almost every child in New Zealand would have been exposed to antibiotics.

We thank Dr Emma Best, Paediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at Starship Hospital and a senior lecturer in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Auckland, and Dr Stephen Howie, Paediatrician Waitemata Paediatric and Newborn Services.